In the spring of 2026, US forces came close to launching an operation against a Chinese cargo ship in the Middle East after a flawed intelligence report linked the vessel's cargo to China's nuclear program, according to infohub.kz.
Citing Bild, NUR.KZ reports that the operation was prompted by a document claiming the ship was carrying components for China's nuclear program. Troops were preparing to board the vessel, and US aircraft were already airborne.
It soon emerged that the information was false. An analyst at the US Special Operations Command in Hawaii used a chatbot to examine the ship's cargo manifest. The artificial intelligence combined open-source data with classified information obtained from intercepted radio and internet traffic but misidentified the cargo.
The analyst then turned to AI again — this time to format the findings into a standard intelligence report. The document circulated within military structures, and the error went unnoticed almost until the operation was about to begin.
The US Department of Defense declined to comment on the specific incident, citing operational security concerns, but said intelligence information undergoes thorough vetting.