How jihadist groups like Boko Haram use AI for acts of terror

Lead

Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based jihadist group, has been using artificial intelligence chatbots for operational purposes, including bomb construction, attack planning, and day-to-day activities, according to a new research paper from Cambridge University. The report, released on Friday, is based on interviews with more than 20 former members of both factions of the movement and sheds light on how the group has integrated AI into its terror campaign.

Experts describe the development as a “force multiplier” rather than a source of fundamentally new attack methods, but warn that the increasing capability of AI models raises the stakes for national security.

Coverage comparison

France 24 and the South China Morning Post both reported on the Cambridge University research, though their accounts differ slightly in emphasis and detail.

France 24’s report focuses on the group’s use of AI chatbots for operational purposes, highlighting that instructors from Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa taught Boko Haram members how to use the technology. The outlet also reported that Boko Haram created units specializing in AI to respond to fighters’ requests for information, and that the technique of “jailbreaking” was used to bypass ethical guidelines programmed into the chatbots.

The South China Morning Post’s coverage emphasizes that the training was delivered by external consultants and specialized AI trainers, and that Boko Haram used US and Chinese AI tools — including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude — for bomb construction, attack planning, and day-to-day operations. The paper also quotes the report’s author, Antonia Juelich, warning that “AI models are becoming much more capable, so the stakes are also much higher now.”

Both outlets noted that the research was based on interviews with former Boko Haram members conducted in northeast Nigeria, and both highlighted the national security implications.

Key claims

Boko Haram received training on AI chatbots

According to the South China Morning Post, a former Boko Haram commander described a workshop in which dozens of members listened to external consultants — whom they called “the white guys” — coach them on how to use leading AI chatbots, with laptops pre-installed with VPNs and encryption software. The training sessions were delivered by specialized AI “trainers,” likely members of the vast Islamic State network, sometime during 2023 or 2024.

France 24 reported that instructors from Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa taught Boko Haram members how to structure requests for Large Language Models.

Use of US and Chinese AI tools

The South China Morning Post reported that Boko Haram used both frontier American and Chinese AI tools to assist in bomb construction, attack planning, and wider day-to-day operations throughout 2024 and as recently as mid-2025. The group used chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, as well as Chinese company DeepSeek’s chatbot.

France 24’s report also mentioned ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and DeepSeek, describing them as a “new pantheon of algorithmic prophets” in the group’s view.

Jailbreaking to bypass ethical guidelines

France 24 reported that the group used the technique of “jailbreaking” to bypass ethical guidelines programmed into AI chatbots, allowing them to obtain answers they might otherwise have been blocked from receiving.

Boko Haram created AI-specialized units

France 24 reported that Boko Haram created units specializing in AI to respond to fighters’ requests for information. One ex-jihadist told the researcher, “There is nothing we haven’t received an answer on... We believe it knows everything.”

Experts warn of national security risk

Both outlets reported that experts warn AI poses a risk to national security. Leiden University’s Graig Klein, who has worked on jihadist groups’ use of AI, told France 24 that the research supported his own findings: “One of the big agreements that came out of it was that it's less likely to lead to new forms of terrorism, or new types of attacks or brand new weapons... But that it's mostly that it's a force multiplier – that it improves the capability that these groups have.”

Juelich told the South China Morning Post: “This is very much a current national security problem. AI models are becoming much more capable, so the stakes are also much higher now.”

Perspectives

Researchers / Author

Antonia Juelich, the author of the Cambridge report, emphasized the national security threat, noting the increasing capability of AI models. She described the difficulty of gaining the trust of former members to share their experiences, having worked on the case for almost a decade.

Academic expert

Graig Klein, a specialist in international terrorism at Leiden University, framed the development as a “force multiplier” — improving the capabilities of existing groups rather than creating new forms of terrorism or weapons.