The US military used artificial intelligence tools in preparing the strike on a girls' elementary school in the Iranian city of Minab, Bloomberg reports, citing people involved in the investigation of the attack.
According to the publication, US Central Command, which approved the operation, relied too much on analysis systems such as Palantir's Maven Smart System. Bloomberg sources also claim that outdated images and incomplete data were used in assessing the target.
The agency writes that after the strike in Washington they came to the conclusion that the US was responsible, and this happened only hours after the attack. Bloomberg points out that, according to participants in the investigation, the decision to launch a large-scale airstrike limited the time to finalize the targets and increased the risk of errors.
The publication also claims that resources for protecting civilians were also reduced in the preparation, and the inspection of the site was difficult because it was previously part of a military complex, and later separated and operated openly as a school.
According to data cited by Bloomberg, dozens of civilians, including children, were killed in the strike. Separately, the agency notes that after the attack, Palantir developed additional tools for re-checking the initial intelligence data to detect inconsistencies and gaps missed by human review.
Bloomberg does not publicly disclose all the documentation from the investigation, but refers to its own sources. Palantir has said it is not responsible for the initial data and intelligence gaps, and that there is no evidence that its software itself was the cause of the error.
The topic of using artificial intelligence in military operations has once again raised questions about how automated systems affect target selection and the risk of civilian casualties.
On February 28, Iranian authorities announced that the United States and Israel had carried out an airstrike on a girls' elementary school in Minab. 175 people were killed, including 168 schoolgirls, and another 95 were injured. US President Donald Trump later blamed the attack on the Iranian military, without providing evidence. It was later determined that missile debris found at the site of the strike bore traces of a US munition.
Sources: Bloomberg, TASS, Anadolu Agency