A report by The New York Times has revealed how Boko Haram terrorists turned to artificial intelligence, AI, for weapons making, including bombs, as well as improving their operations generally.
Former insurgents, the report noted, used multiple AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and DeepSeek.
According to the report, former Boko Haram commanders told terrorism and technology researcher, Antonia Juelich of the University of Cambridge, that after an assault on a military base was frustrated by a defensive trench, the group consulted AI tools for ideas.
That was when they learned how to modify motorcycles to jump over such obstacles.
Their mechanics altered motorcycles for speed and acceleration, and fighters practised manoeuvres before operations.
One of the former Boko Haram commanders told Juelich: “We saw in a movie how motorcycles can jump over bridges.
“We used AI to learn how to do this. We gave it information, like what motorcycles we use and the distance we need to jump and so on.
“And it gave us steps on what we have to do.”
‘How do I make bombs with heavier explosions?’
Another terrorist, a former commander in Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, told Juelich, “You type in the question or use your voice, and it gives you a detailed answer, like ‘How can I build a bomb?,’ and then it tells you how.
“It is like a human robot! We used it a lot.”
“Trial-and-error can kill you. AI gives you accuracy,” one member said.
“Before, the bomb explosion was not that big, but then they studied it.
“AI told us what chemicals to put in that made the explosion heavier,” he said.
AI firms react
Reacting to the findings, OpenAI told The New York Times that the terrorists violated its policies with such actions.
On their part, Google and Anthropic said their AI models contain protections designed to refuse dangerous requests.
However, the former insurgents told the researcher that they were often able to bypass chatbot restrictions by disguising their requests as legitimate projects.
