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Announcements from Tech Against Terrorism and coverage of the Counter-Terrorism AI (CT-AI) Benchmark in the press.
In the news
26 pieces of coverage from 21 outlets.
Newest first. Each card opens the piece at the outlet that published it.
Second edition, October 20268
FinalistUKAI19 October 2026Responsible AI VoteThe Counter-Terrorism AI Benchmark is one of four finalists for the Responsible AI Award at UKAI’s Sovereign AI Awards 2026. Winners are announced on Monday 2 November 2026 at the Sovereign AI Summit, The Oval, London.
WIRED14 October 2026AI Models Can Be Easily Modified to Assist Terrorist and Extremist Activity“Some of the failures are stunning.”By David Gilbert. The quotation is from Daniel Byman, Georgetown University.
CBS News9 October 2026Researchers asked AI models to help with terrorist operations. Here's how they responded.“The new research, which was shared with CBS News, is by Tech Against Terrorism, a U.K.-based nonprofit organization that works to disrupt terrorist activity online.”
Le Monde9 October 2026In FrenchEn marge des grands modèles commerciaux, certaines IA restent très mal protégées contre des utilisations à but terroriste“D’après un rapport de Tech Against Terrorism, consulté par «Le Monde» avant sa publication, si les grandes intelligences artificielles commerciales refusent généralement, lors des tests, d’aider à la préparation d’attentats, des IA moins connues s’y prêtent très volontiers.”
LBC9 October 2026'Nazi coach on call': Extremists strip safety controls from AI chatbots to help plan terror attacks and radicalise children“It marks the second edition of its Counter-Terrorism AI Benchmark, which encourages tech companies and governments to do more to prevent the misuse of AI by making it harder to remove security guardrails.”The National9 October 2026Test shows AI models likely to give advice for terrorist attacks“A model that refuses a stated terrorist and answers a stated researcher has not been made safe. It has been made polite.”
BFM TV (AFP)9 October 2026In French"Aucun modèle qui échoue à un test de sécurité indépendant ne devrait être proposé": les modèles d'IA ne sont pas assez protégés contre des utilisations à but terroriste, selon une organisation soutenue par l'ONU“De nombreux modèles d'intelligence artificielle (IA) disposent de protections insuffisantes contre les demandes d'"aide à une opération terroriste", souligne un rapport, publié vendredi par Tech Against Terrorism.”
VideoFAR.AI5 October 2026Terrorist Use Of AI: Do Current Safeguards Work? | Panel at the United NationsAdam Hadley with Adam Gleave (FAR.AI) and Paul Ash (Christchurch Call Foundation), at a United Nations General Assembly side event in New York.
WIRED14 October 2026AI Models Can Be Easily Modified to Assist Terrorist and Extremist Activity“Some of the failures are stunning.”By David Gilbert. The quotation is from Daniel Byman, Georgetown University.CBS News9 October 2026Researchers asked AI models to help with terrorist operations. Here's how they responded.“The new research, which was shared with CBS News, is by Tech Against Terrorism, a U.K.-based nonprofit organization that works to disrupt terrorist activity online.”Le Monde9 October 2026In FrenchEn marge des grands modèles commerciaux, certaines IA restent très mal protégées contre des utilisations à but terroriste“D’après un rapport de Tech Against Terrorism, consulté par «Le Monde» avant sa publication, si les grandes intelligences artificielles commerciales refusent généralement, lors des tests, d’aider à la préparation d’attentats, des IA moins connues s’y prêtent très volontiers.”LBC9 October 2026'Nazi coach on call': Extremists strip safety controls from AI chatbots to help plan terror attacks and radicalise children“It marks the second edition of its Counter-Terrorism AI Benchmark, which encourages tech companies and governments to do more to prevent the misuse of AI by making it harder to remove security guardrails.”The National9 October 2026Test shows AI models likely to give advice for terrorist attacks“A model that refuses a stated terrorist and answers a stated researcher has not been made safe. It has been made polite.”BFM TV (AFP)9 October 2026In French"Aucun modèle qui échoue à un test de sécurité indépendant ne devrait être proposé": les modèles d'IA ne sont pas assez protégés contre des utilisations à but terroriste, selon une organisation soutenue par l'ONU“De nombreux modèles d'intelligence artificielle (IA) disposent de protections insuffisantes contre les demandes d'"aide à une opération terroriste", souligne un rapport, publié vendredi par Tech Against Terrorism.”VideoFAR.AI5 October 2026Terrorist Use Of AI: Do Current Safeguards Work? | Panel at the United NationsAdam Hadley with Adam Gleave (FAR.AI) and Paul Ash (Christchurch Call Foundation), at a United Nations General Assembly side event in New York.First edition and after, July to September 202613
Futura-Sciences21 September 2026In FrenchUn nouveau danger lié à l’IA se dessine : Boko Haram commence à l’intégrer à ses opérations“...un test mené en 2026 par Tech Against Terrorism a montré qu'environ un tiers des réponses via des modèles basiques pouvaient apporter une aide jugée exploitable dans des scénarios liés au terrorisme.”
CTC Sentinel31 July 2026Feature Commentary: Guardrails Under Test: Terrorist Misuse of AI Models and the Open-Weight ‘Abliteration’ ProblemBy Adam Hadley, in the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point's journal.
LBC23 July 2026AI chatbots hand terrorists a blueprint for attacks and homemade bombs, security expert warns“This should be, in our view, a national security conversation.”
ABC News (Australia)16 July 2026AI developers to do more to stop growing terrorist, extremist use“A model that will iterate with a user, answer follow-up questions and refine an approach is behaving less like a manual and more like a coach.”
The Star / South China Morning Post16 July 2026Boko Haram exploited US and Chinese AI chatbots for attacks, Cambridge study finds“Tech Against Terrorism... highlighted in a new report that around a third of AI model responses provided 'meaningful' assistance to terrorists beyond what could easily be found by web search.”Firstpost14 July 2026Explained: Why AI's next major security challenge could be terrorism“Tech Against Terrorism... tested more than two dozen leading AI models using thousands of prompts based on real terrorism cases. It found that only 57 per cent of the prompts resulted in complete refusals.”Foreign Policy Journal12 July 2026AI Chatbots Emerge As New Terror Planning Tools For Al-Qaeda And Extremist Groups“It's one thing to find a bomb-making manual, it is quite another to have a bomb-making coach.”
Deutsche Welle11 July 2026Could AI help al-Qaeda and other groups plan terror attacks?“A determined person will eventually find most information... But what these models change is speed, ease and comprehensiveness.”
The New York Times10 July 2026How Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. to Gain an Edge in Battle“Tech Against Terrorism... last week released results from AI tests gauging how more than two dozen leading models responded to thousands of prompts drawn from real-world terrorism cases.”
Letters to the EditorFinancial Times8 July 2026Letter: Digital safety should start with today’s threats“This week Tech Against Terrorism published the first benchmark built to measure terrorist misuse of AI.”From Adam Hadley CBE, Executive Director, Tech Against Terrorism, replying to Sam Altman's FT essay on AI safety.The Media Line5 July 2026Saudi Arabia Pushes Global Response to AI Terrorism Threat“Adam Hadley, the group's executive director, calls the findings 'not acceptable'.”The Media Line2 July 2026Saudi Arabia Warns AI Is Becoming a Counterterrorism Threat“Adam Hadley... said many models tested with simple, single-shot questions provided meaningful assistance toward bomb-making or mass-casualty attack planning, calling the result 'not acceptable.'”
The National1 July 2026AI models provide assistance to terror attacks“Until now, there was no AI benchmark focused specifically on terrorism, so we built one.”
CTC Sentinel31 July 2026Feature Commentary: Guardrails Under Test: Terrorist Misuse of AI Models and the Open-Weight ‘Abliteration’ ProblemBy Adam Hadley, in the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point's journal.LBC23 July 2026AI chatbots hand terrorists a blueprint for attacks and homemade bombs, security expert warns“This should be, in our view, a national security conversation.”ABC News (Australia)16 July 2026AI developers to do more to stop growing terrorist, extremist use“A model that will iterate with a user, answer follow-up questions and refine an approach is behaving less like a manual and more like a coach.”The Star / South China Morning Post16 July 2026Boko Haram exploited US and Chinese AI chatbots for attacks, Cambridge study finds“Tech Against Terrorism... highlighted in a new report that around a third of AI model responses provided 'meaningful' assistance to terrorists beyond what could easily be found by web search.”Firstpost14 July 2026Explained: Why AI's next major security challenge could be terrorism“Tech Against Terrorism... tested more than two dozen leading AI models using thousands of prompts based on real terrorism cases. It found that only 57 per cent of the prompts resulted in complete refusals.”Foreign Policy Journal12 July 2026AI Chatbots Emerge As New Terror Planning Tools For Al-Qaeda And Extremist Groups“It's one thing to find a bomb-making manual, it is quite another to have a bomb-making coach.”Deutsche Welle11 July 2026Could AI help al-Qaeda and other groups plan terror attacks?“A determined person will eventually find most information... But what these models change is speed, ease and comprehensiveness.”The New York Times10 July 2026How Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. to Gain an Edge in Battle“Tech Against Terrorism... last week released results from AI tests gauging how more than two dozen leading models responded to thousands of prompts drawn from real-world terrorism cases.”Letters to the EditorFinancial Times8 July 2026Letter: Digital safety should start with today’s threats“This week Tech Against Terrorism published the first benchmark built to measure terrorist misuse of AI.”From Adam Hadley CBE, Executive Director, Tech Against Terrorism, replying to Sam Altman's FT essay on AI safety.The Media Line5 July 2026Saudi Arabia Pushes Global Response to AI Terrorism Threat“Adam Hadley, the group's executive director, calls the findings 'not acceptable'.”The Media Line2 July 2026Saudi Arabia Warns AI Is Becoming a Counterterrorism Threat“Adam Hadley... said many models tested with simple, single-shot questions provided meaningful assistance toward bomb-making or mass-casualty attack planning, calling the result 'not acceptable.'”The National1 July 2026AI models provide assistance to terror attacks“Until now, there was no AI benchmark focused specifically on terrorism, so we built one.”Before the benchmark, 2023 to 20255
The Guardian21 December 2025Extremists are using AI voice cloning to supercharge propaganda. Experts say it's helping them grow“The adoption of AI-enabled translation by terrorists and extremists marks a significant evolution in digital propaganda strategies.”The Guardian8 July 2025How terrorist groups are leveraging AI to recruit and finance their operations“Generative AI amplifies threats posed by existing technologies rather than creating entirely new threat categories.”The Times11 February 2024Hitler chatbot 'a clear security threat' amid radicalisation fears“It would appear that the potential weaponisation of chatbots is well under way and now presents a clear security threat.”
The Jerusalem Post11 November 2023Generative AI sees spike in extremist propaganda use amidst Israel-Hamas war“Our biggest concern is that if terrorists start using gen AI to manipulate imagery at scale, this could well destroy hash-sharing as a solution.”WIRED9 November 2023Here's How Violent Extremists Are Exploiting Generative AI Tools“Tech Against Terrorism identified roughly 5,000 pieces of AI-generated extremist content per week.”
The Jerusalem Post11 November 2023Generative AI sees spike in extremist propaganda use amidst Israel-Hamas war“Our biggest concern is that if terrorists start using gen AI to manipulate imagery at scale, this could well destroy hash-sharing as a solution.”WIRED9 November 2023Here's How Violent Extremists Are Exploiting Generative AI Tools“Tech Against Terrorism identified roughly 5,000 pieces of AI-generated extremist content per week.”Essential reading
Selected by Tech Against Terrorism; not coverage of our work.
The New York Times10 July 2026
How Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. to Gain an Edge in Battle
Field evidence from interviews with 27 former Boko Haram fighters that mainstream chatbots are used across the attack chain, not just for propaganda.
Financial Times25 May 2026
AI guardrails stripped from Meta and Google models in minutes
The clearest account of why open weights cannot be recalled: thousands of de-censored models, downloaded millions of times.
Associated Press15 December 2025
Militant groups are experimenting with AI, and the risks are expected to grow
Wire overview of militant experimentation with generative AI, with candid caveats on the limits of adoption so far.
Reuters8 January 2025
Las Vegas Cybertruck suspect used ChatGPT to plan blast, police say
The first case police named on US soil of a chatbot used to help plan an attack.
The Washington Post17 May 2024
These ISIS news anchors are AI fakes. Their propaganda is real.
The investigation that broke News Harvest, Islamic State supporters' AI-generated news anchors.