In a striking development from the ongoing U.S.–Israel military operation against Iran, reports indicate that U.S. forces continued to use artificial intelligence technology from the AI company Anthropic in combat operations even after President Donald Trump announced a federal ban on the company’s tools. According to The Wall Street Journal, the military — including **U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle East — relied on Anthropic’s Claude AI system for tasks such as intelligence analysis, target identification and simulating battle scenarios as part of the February 28, 2026 strikes on Iranian targets.
The reported use of Claude came just hours after Trump’s executive order directing all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic’s products, with a six-month phase-out period for the Department of Defense due to deep integration in classified systems. Trump’s move against the AI company was framed by the administration as a national security decision, designating Anthropic a “supply chain risk” amid a broader dispute over AI use in defense.
The strikes themselves are part of a major joint U.S.–Israel campaign targeting Iran’s strategic and military infrastructure, during which the Iranian Supreme Leader was reportedly killed and significant regional escalation has followed. Large-scale air operations involved missiles, drones and fighter aircraft. Amid these developments, parts of Middle Eastern airspace have been shut down, reflecting heightened regional tensions.
The incident has also sparked political debate in the United States. Democratic lawmakers condemned the Iran strikes as lacking congressional authorization and potentially unconstitutional, advancing resolutions to constrain further military action and calling for greater oversight of executive war powers.
