Anthropic uncovers UAE-run AI campaign that weaponized Claude to smear Muslim Brotherhood
Anthropic says a UAE-backed operation used its AI assistant Claude to create fake accounts and front NGOs aimed at discrediting the Muslim Brotherhood and influencing UN discussions on Sudan.
Anthropic’s latest intelligence briefing reveals a sophisticated UAE-directed influence campaign that leveraged the company’s AI tool Claude to manipulate online discourse. Approximately 300 bogus influencer accounts were created to shape narratives about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sudan conflict—where the UAE supports the Rapid Support Forces—and the United Nations’ accountability efforts. The actors also forged a front NGO mirroring a real Swiss organization and produced state-authored human-rights reports, as well as ghost-written testimonies intended for the 62nd UN Human Rights Council session, deliberately omitting any reference to the UAE.
Additional work involved researching and profiling 18 European parliamentarians and prominent journalists, and assembling counter-accountability dossiers on UN special rapporteurs who had criticized the UAE’s actions in Sudan. Anthropic links the operation with high confidence to senior UAE officials, who were listed as intended recipients of the fabricated material.
Why it matters
It shows how state actors can misuse advanced AI to conduct covert disinformation campaigns on a global scale.
How the sides frame it
HIGH AGREEMENTBoth camps report the same UAE-linked AI operation, but left-leaning coverage emphasizes the scale and deceptive tactics of the campaign, while centrist coverage stresses Anthropic’s detection of the operation and its targeting of UN experts.
LEFT
Frames the story as a sophisticated UAE-run smear campaign that weaponized Anthropic’s Claude to manipulate discourse and conceal the UAE’s role.
CENTER
Frames the story as Anthropic’s detection of a UAE-linked AI operation that targeted the Muslim Brotherhood and UN experts, highlighting the firm’s confidence in the findings.
The left emphasises
- weaponized Claude to manipulate online discourse
- approximately 300 bogus influencer accounts
- forged a front NGO and ghost-written testimonies
In this story
