Anthropic Report Says Russian Operatives Used AI Tool Claude to Spread Pro-Russian Propaganda in CAR

A September report by US-based Anthropic claims Russian agents in Bangui deliberately exploited its AI assistant Claude to produce pro-Russian propaganda and monitor opposition politicians. The content, broadcast by Radio Lengo Songo—a station linked to Russia according to the investigative collective All Eyes on Wagner—cast the Central African government and the Africa Corps mercenaries in a positive light while criticizing France and the opposition.

The report says Claude was prompted to label opposition figures as armed militants, a request the system rejected, and that the AI was also used to generate disinformation campaigns across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Sudan and Mali. Anthropic alleges it dismantled these operations between December 2025 and August 2026 by deleting accounts and enhancing detection tools. Opposition leaders, including Martin Ziguele, view the findings as evidence of a coordinated effort by President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s government and its Russian allies to suppress dissent. Russia’s representative Dmitri Sytyi dismissed the allegations as vague and unsupported.