A US military analyst used AI to generate an intelligence report. The report falsely claimed a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear weapons components. The military prepared to intercept the vessel based on this report. The operation was halted after officials discovered the report was AI-generated and false. The report was entirely false but nearly triggered a conflict with China. The analyst used a chatbot to interpret intelligence on the ship’s manifest. The chatbot combined open-source and classified intelligence to reach its conclusion. The analyst then used AI to format the findings into a standard report. The military is pushing to integrate AI into intelligence and targeting processes. There are no unified standards for verifying AI-generated intelligence across the military.