Lawmakers Demand DOD Investigation After Military AI Intelligence Report Almost Sparked Conflict with China

A group of Democratic senators have called for an investigation after reports that an AI-assisted intelligence report used by the military almost sparked a conflict with China.

Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, the Department of Defense (DOD) has pushed for the adoption of AI in certain circumstances. Proponents say it speeds up tasks and saves on staffing costs, while naysayers express concerns about the fledgling technology’s propensity to hallucinate ‘facts’ which create unintended errors.

Trump is scheduled to meet this Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Washington to discuss national security measures and international trade policies during a bilateral summit.

On Friday, CNN reported that the military developed response plans after an AI report the military developed this spring claimed a Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.

The publication, citing anonymous sources, said armed members of the military prepared to board the Chinese ship and that the military also sent planes into the air before officials realized that the AI chatbot incorrectly identified the material the ship was carrying. One source reportedly said that the incident had “almost started a war.” Another said the AI report was false.

Military.com reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Trump claimed, without evidence, in a White House address in July that China had illicitly acquired U.S. voter files during the 2020 election.

Senators Respond

In response to the reports, Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and Chris Coons of Delaware sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton on Saturday.

They, in part, called for an “immediate investigation by relevant Inspectors General, with a higher degree of public transparency in the ultimate findings, given the impacts these perceived failures have on public confidence in our intelligence and war fighting missions.”

Reed is the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, while Warner is the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Coons is on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The letter said the lawmakers had “growing concern about the extent to which agencies under your oversight have prioritized acceleration of AI capability adoption and ‘experimentation’ over effective governance.”

The senators also asked Hegseth and Clayton to provide relevant inspectors general with “unrestricted access to both instances this year in which media reports have suggested significant errors in AI-enabled targeting workflows, as well as any additional instances that may have so far not been publicly reported.”

Trump Administration’s Use of AI

The reports blend with how the Trump administration is using AI, and has approached its various uses—notably in a military construct.

In January, Hegseth released an Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy to speed up the military’s use of AI.

“We will unleash experimentation, eliminate bureaucratic barriers, focus our investments and demonstrate the execution approach needed to ensure we lead in military AI,” he said in a speech at the time.

GenAI.mil, a Pentagon-built platform launched in Dec. 2025, also gives those in the department access to AI tools to complete tasks.

In April 2026, Pentagon officials reported more than 1.2 million unique users on the platform.

In February, Trump said he would direct federal agencies to stop using technology from AI developer Anthropic. The company had refused a demand to give the U.S. military full access to its AI tools.

In March, OpenAI said it had agreed to changes to a deal with the U.S. government over the use of its technology in classified military operations.

The Pentagon has also formally adopted Responsible Artificial Intelligence principles that govern how systems are designed, tested, and deployed.

And in August, the Navy appointed M. Barry Tanner as the permanent chief information officer, pushing for the use of AI.

Just this past weekend, Trump touted AI and losing a tech race with China. He introduced via a Truth Social post something he described as “AI Force.”

“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry. Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD, and we can do that, very easily, with our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System. For this purpose, I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force,” Trump said on Truth Social.