In a highly comprehensive report published on September 10, Anthropic revealed that AI was used in biological weapons and that Chinese AI companies were redirecting users to Claude. The company also announced that it had uncovered a commercial election manipulation platform targeting voters in Malaysia. Anthropic alleged that Istanbul-based BBS Bilişim Teknolojileri was behind the operation. The company in question denied Anthropic's claims.
Voter Targeting System Created
According to Anthropic's threat intelligence report published on September 10, a voter targeting system was created covering all 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia. The system was reportedly developed using real census and election data, along with millions of voter records. The company stated that the platform was specifically designed to profile and target voters based on sensitive political and social fault lines in Malaysia, such as race, religion, and royalty.
Anthropic's Claude models were used not only for preparing constituency profiles but also for developing the technical infrastructure of the operation.
Anthropic stated that the system, which presented itself as a platform offering cyber defense and disinformation combat tools, was actually sold as a paid "influence operation service." The company's investigation linked the platform to Istanbul-based BBS Bilişim Teknolojileri (bbsteknoloji[.]com).
However, Anthropic did not disclose who purchased the platform for the Malaysia-focused operation. It is also unknown whether the operation was linked to a specific Malaysian election or exactly when it began.
Over 1,000 Fake X Accounts Used
The social media arm of the operation involved over 1,000 fake X accounts. These accounts were made to appear like real users. Methods such as regularly refreshing cookies and IP addresses were employed to prevent the accounts from being flagged as "fake."
It was stated that the platform's control panel also allowed for determining how many artificial views would be sent to specific targets. Anthropic reported detecting a request to send 1 million artificial views to the account of the incumbent Malaysian Prime Minister in one instance, with the aim of supporting him.
Fake News Website Established with AI
The operation was not limited to social media accounts. According to Anthropic, the actors also operated a fake news website called "Malaysia Pulse." The platform collected real Malaysian news with the help of AI, repeatedly rewrote the content, and published it under fake author names. The site also republished content from state-affiliated Chinese and Russian media organizations such as Xinhua, CGTN, Sputnik/RIA, and TV BRICS. It was noted that expressions indicating the state affiliation of these organizations were removed, and the news was presented as if prepared by independent Malaysian press.
Anthropic identified that the malaysiapulse.com domain name was under the control of the actor running the operation and was registered on May 10, 2026. A YouTube channel named @malaysiapulseof, also believed to be part of the same operation, was found.
Fake Dossiers Prepared Against Opponents
The individuals running the operation used Claude not only for news production but also for preparing fake intelligence dossiers. Anthropic stated that these dossiers were created to spread false accusations against an opposition politician and civil society organizations.
The company stated that these claims were entirely fabricated but did not disclose the names of the targeted politician or organizations.
It was also reported that Claude rejected some requests or partially fulfilled them. In one instance, the system detected that a prepared dossier was intended for political smear and rejected the request. Consequently, the actor behind the operation reportedly tried to circumvent Claude by changing the wording of prompts to continue obtaining similar capabilities.
Another striking detail in Anthropic's report was the actor's attempt to contract with Malaysia's national communications regulator. Anthropic stated that it found no evidence that this contract attempt was successful.
It is not yet clear whether Malaysian authorities are investigating the operation, or whether BBS Bilişim Teknolojileri or its representatives held contract discussions with the government.
Anthropic also stated that despite the scope of the infrastructure and the technical sophistication of the operation, there was no evidence of fake content and accounts infiltrating real online communities. According to the company, although the operation's assets were distributed across multiple platforms, they were not found to have achieved widespread dissemination within real user communities.
Turkish Company Denies Claims
BBS (Bilgi Birikim Sistemleri) Bilişim Teknolojileri (bilgibirikim[.]com) issued a statement regarding the matter, asserting that the domain names and links mentioned in Anthropic's report were not related to them.
The company stated, "There is no connection or relation between our company, Bilgi Birikim Sistemleri (BBS), and the domain names (domain) and structures with the 'bbs teknoloji / bbs-teknoloji' extension mentioned in Anthropic's September 2026 Threat Intelligence Report as cybersecurity threat elements... The domain name mentioned in the report is entirely unrelated to our institution, except for a similarity in name."
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