‘Just ask Grok’: How ISIL is using Big Tech’s AI to build bombs

Boko Haram fighters are using the artificial intelligence chatbots of Big Tech companies to help build more powerful bombs, plan attacks and solve problems during combat, according to research by the University of Cambridge.

Researchers interviewed 27 former members of Boko Haram’s two factions – the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JAS). A number of members described using Sam Altman-led OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Elon Musk’s Grok, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta AI and China’s DeepSeek as a routine source of technical and military advice before, during and after attacks.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 items

• list 1 of 4Real Madrid stars appear to hide Ceuta solidarity message
• list 2 of 4Israeli double-tap strike kills 15-year-old and paramedic in Gaza
• list 3 of 4India summons Pakistani diplomat after incident in Arabian Sea
• list 4 of 4Moment Kash Patel’s senate hearing takes bizarre turn

end of list

Meanwhile, exclusive material obtained by Al Jazeera reveals how supporters of the wider ISIL (ISIS) movement are sharing instructions on bypassing AI safety controls and obtaining weapons-related information. Researchers at Tech Against Terrorism infiltrated a pro-ISIL technical forum where supporters instructed one another on how to use AI and circumvent its safety restrictions.

The findings come amid growing concern over ISIL’s adoption of emerging technologies. In February, United Nations officials warned the Security Council of increased use of advanced AI by ISIL and its affiliates. At the same time, researchers and several of the technology industry’s most prominent figures have warned that increasingly powerful AI systems are advancing faster than safeguards, raising concerns that unchecked advances in AI are making it easier for armed groups to exploit the technology.

“There is nothing we haven’t received an answer on,” a former ISWAP commander told the researchers.