Anthropic reports UAE AI misuse targeting Muslim Brotherhood

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Anthropic reports UAE AI misuse targeting Muslim Brotherhood, Sudan

September 11, 2026

DUBAI,— Artificial intelligence company Anthropic said it had identified and disrupted a UAE-directed influence operation focused on the Muslim Brotherhood, the conflict in Sudan and UN accountability mechanisms.

The company said in its report “Detecting and countering misuse of AI: September 2026” that a single actor used Claude to sustain an AI persona called “Deadshot” on a private platform controlled by the actor.

Anthropic said the system contained a master doctrine file directing Claude to repeat a mission described as “a coordinated transatlantic and regional operation to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood globally.”

The campaign operated through five connected activities. The actor simultaneously coordinated narrative production, efforts to conceal the operation and selection of targets.

Anthropic said the actor created and managed about 300 inauthentic influencer accounts across social media.

The actor also established a front NGO that copied the identity of a real Swiss organization and issued human-rights reports written by the state under that identity.

The operation also involved ghost-writing official testimony intended for delivery by two people at the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Anthropic said the material included restrictions requiring that neither speech refer to the UAE.

The actor researched and profiled 18 members of the European Parliament and prominent journalists, compiling detailed personal files on the targets.

The operation also produced counter-accountability dossiers on UN Special Rapporteurs who had criticized the UAE’s conduct in Sudan.

Anthropic said its investigation linked the operation with high confidence to UAE government officials, even though the campaign was designed to prevent tracing it to those responsible.

The doctrine file identified senior UAE officials as intended recipients of the work. Anthropic also said the actor funded the social media network used to amplify the material.

The company said it could not determine whether the testimonies or target dossiers reached their intended audiences.

Anthropic classified the activity as Category Three under the Breakout Scale because it operated across several social media platforms. The company said a higher category would require evidence of broad public attention or policy impact, which it could not confirm.

Anthropic said the amplification network was centrally funded and coordinated. Internal reporting described the network’s “independence” as its “greatest strategic asset,” indicating an effort to conceal its state-directed character.

The company said the actor borrowed the identity of a real Sudanese human rights organization and prepared complete UN testimony for two named individuals.

The material was intended to present the interests of a party to the Sudan conflict to the UN as statements from independent local witnesses rather than state messaging.

Anthropic said the workflow combined real-world topics with pre-made political doctrine files, then used Claude to produce official-looking intelligence briefs, cloned-identity reports, ghost-written testimony and individual targeting lists.

Several materials were prepared for direct delivery to senior UAE officials.

The company said it discovered the activity through internal investigations and banned the accounts.

It also developed detections based on the documented behavioral signature to block related activity in the future and shared indicators with other industry partners.

Anthropic said the campaign’s components were closely connected rather than isolated efforts. The actor synchronized narrative generation, technical obfuscation and tactical target selection throughout the operation.

The company said this structure allowed the same political mission to guide activity across the campaign.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928, which several countries have designated as a terrorist group, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

It is a transnational Sunni Islamist movement that seeks the establishment of a caliphate and has been described as the “mother organization” for terrorist groups including Hamas and al-Qaeda.

While the Brotherhood claims to have renounced violence, critics view it as a dangerous terrorist organization that must be dismantled.

(With files from Anthropic.com)