Man arrested after telling Claude chatbot about daycare attack plan

A 29-year-old man in Sydney, Australia told the AI chatbot Claude, made by Anthropic, that he wanted to shoot at a daycare near a local shopping mall. The chat caught the attention of Interpol, and he was later detained by police. He is charged with using communication services to threaten others, which breaks Australian law.

Prosecutors said he also mentioned the suspect of the Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney, wanting to carry out a similar attack. His lawyer argued he was just venting due to stress from an ear infection, and he always thought the chat was private. He will get a mental health check.

It is still unclear how Interpol got the chat records, or whether Anthropic shared them. AI chatbots are becoming a place where some troubled users pour out their thoughts. Several shootings have been linked to heavy chatbot use, raising safety concerns.