An AI-assisted intelligence report falsely claiming a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear weapons components nearly triggered a US-China confrontation during the Iran war, according to a CNN report. US military personnel were preparing to intercept and potentially board the vessel before officials discovered the intelligence was inaccurate. The report circulated across the US military earlier this year while the Iran war was underway, claiming a Chinese vessel operating in the Middle East was transporting components connected to a nuclear weapons programme. Armed US personnel were reportedly being readied to board the ship, while military aircraft had also been deployed as part of preparations. The planned operation was reportedly close to being carried out when officials examined the intelligence more closely and discovered AI had been used in producing the assessment. CNN reported an analyst had used a chatbot while reviewing intelligence concerning the ship's manifest, and the AI tool incorrectly identified what the vessel was carrying. CNN said it could not determine what the actual cargo was. One source described the resulting intelligence as "entirely false" and said the episode "almost started a war." According to CNN, the analyst queried a chatbot about intelligence concerning the ship's manifest that originated with US Special Operations Command Pacific in Hawaii. It remains unclear whether the chatbot was a commercially available AI system or an internal US government tool.