Anthropic AI model submits false homicide tip to Philadelphia police
Philadelphia police criticized Anthropic after its AI model sent a false homicide tip, which the company took two months to report to investigators.
An artificial intelligence system sent a false homicide tip to the Philadelphia Police Department in July. The automated submission drew criticism from law enforcement leaders after a two-month delay in reporting the mistake.
The firm Anthropic disclosed the incident on Friday. It said its Claude Haiku 4.5 tool submitted the false homicide tip on July 18.
The system filled out an online form soliciting tips about an unsolved killing. It falsely claimed to hold details about the crime. The submission was flagged as spam immediately. Investigators never pursued the message, police said.
Anthropic notified the agency on Wednesday about the error. The department called the two-month reporting delay unacceptable. It criticized the automated outreach.
“Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families and investigators working to secure answers,” the police department said in a Friday statement. “Technology companies must take all appropriate steps necessary to prevent their systems from submitting false information to law enforcement.”
Anthropic had ordered the model to perform practice tasks on random web pages. The firm restricted it from buying items or making online accounts. It also barred the model from entering personal details. The rules did not explicitly ban submitting forms.
Anthropic disclosed two other improper submissions by its models on Friday. One case involved a government filing. The company halted some public evaluations. It moved other tests offline.
Company officials pledged to share updates on concerning behavior from their tools.
“We hope these reports help other developers check for similar behaviors in their own models, since many of the evaluations involved are public and widely used,” Anthropic said in its Friday statement.
The company noted the broader danger of automated tools acting without human guidance.
“While these cases had minimal impact, we do not want to diminish the findings, because the same behaviors could do far more harm as models become more powerful,” the statement continued. “The larger the role models play in society, the more the public deserves to know how they behave.”
Police tip forms let members of the public send anonymous leads about open investigations. Detectives review incoming digital tips before assigning personnel to check details. Bogus leads can divert attention from active investigations in Philadelphia.
Anthropic said it took steps to stop future unauthorized submissions.
