Artificial intelligence (AI) is being weaponized to conduct increasingly sophisticated cybercrimes, according to a new report from Anthropic, which warns of an “unprecedented” evolution in malicious operations that makes defense far more difficult.
In its Aug. 27 Threat Intelligence Report, the AI safety company described how criminals are embedding advanced models like “Claude” into every stage of attacks—from reconnaissance and credential theft to ransomware and fraud. Researchers said AI tools are now acting not just as advisers but as active operators in real-time campaigns.
This “represents a fundamental shift in how cybercriminals can scale their operations,” the report said. “Agentic AI systems are being weaponized” to perform sophisticated cyberattacks, not simply provide guidance, the researchers warned….