US President Donald Trump announced the use of a secret weapon he referred to as “The Confuser” during the military operation that resulted in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on 3 January and his transfer to the United States to stand trial on allegations related to narcotics and organised crime.
Trump made the remarks during an address to special forces soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He stated that the new weapon “does not explode and does not destroy, but completely disables systems,” adding: “They pressed the buttons and nothing worked.”
He described the operation as “one of the most remarkable, fastest, and deadliest military operations we have seen,” asserting that US forces executed the mission with minimal losses. Venezuelan radar and air defence systems reportedly ceased functioning suddenly shortly before American drones and attack helicopters entered the airspace surrounding the target location in the capital, Caracas.
“The Confuser” A Weapon Without Explosion
The White House did not provide technical details regarding the nature of the weapon. However, its description points to capabilities in electronic warfare or cyber operations targeting command and control networks and radar systems.
Artificial Intelligence in the Operation
In a related development, press reports citing The Wall Street Journal indicated that the US military relied on the artificial intelligence model “Claude,” developed by Anthropic, through a partnership with Palantir Technologies, to support intelligence analysis during the operation.
A company spokesperson confirmed that any use of the model must comply with approved usage policies, declining to comment on specific operations. Information suggests that artificial intelligence tools may be utilised in analysing large scale data, assessing risks, and supporting operational decision making.
The newspaper reported that “Claude” was deployed through Anthropic’s partnership with Palantir Technologies. Informed sources stated that Anthropic, whose tools are widely used by the US Department of Defense and federal law enforcement agencies, had expressed concerns regarding how the Pentagon was employing the programme. This reportedly prompted administration officials to consider cancelling a contract valued at 200 million US dollars.
Anthropic was the first developer of artificial intelligence models to be used in classified operations by the US Department of Defense. Other AI tools may also have been utilised in the Venezuela operation for non classified tasks.
