Anthropic alleges Turkey-linked election manipulation: BBS Teknoloji denies

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has brought to light preparations for a comprehensive political influence operation targeting Malaysia in its new threat intelligence report regarding the misuse of its Claude models. The company alleged that the operation had "clear links" to the Istanbul-based BBS Bilişim Teknolojileri.

According to the report published on September 10, the structure in question consisted of over a thousand fake social media accounts, a website designed to look like a legitimate news outlet, voter profiling tools, and attempts to create fabricated dossiers targeting political rivals. Anthropic announced that it has closed the Claude account used during this process.

The report alleged that the platform was designed to offer political influence services to clients for a fee. It stated that in the platform's own documents, the system was marketed as a "military-grade, AI-powered, real-time political operations ecosystem."

VOTER DATA AND FAKE ACCOUNTS

According to Anthropic, in addition to publicly available election results, population data and records belonging to millions of voters were uploaded to the system. Using this data, separate voter profiles were created for all 222 electoral districts in the Malaysian Parliament.

The report stated that sensitive topics in Malaysian politics, such as race, religion, and the monarchy, were taken into account during the targeting process. It was noted that Claude was used to analyze data, identify target audiences, and develop the technical infrastructure.

It was stated that there were over a thousand fake X accounts involved in the social media aspect of the operation. These accounts reportedly attempted to appear credible by exhibiting ordinary user behavior instead of sharing political content in the initial phase, and were later used to increase the views and engagement of specific posts.

Anthropic reported that it also detected activities within the system aimed at supporting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The report stated that there was a request to generate 1 million artificial views for content on Anwar Ibrahim's social media account. However, the company emphasized that this figure was based on platform records and that it could not independently verify whether 1 million views were actually generated.

The company also stated that it found no evidence that the operation was commissioned by Anwar Ibrahim, his party, or the Malaysian government, and that it is unknown who financed the system.

FAKE NEWS SITE AND BBS'S RESPONSE

The report alleged that the website Malaysia Pulse, registered on May 10, 2026, was also part of the operation. It was stated that on the site, which gave the impression of being a real news organization, content from Malaysian media was rewritten using AI tools and published under the names of fictional reporters.

According to Anthropic, content from organizations with links to China and Russia, such as Xinhua, CGTN, Sputnik/RIA, and TV BRICS, was also circulated through this site while concealing the state connections of the sources. The report stated that a YouTube account linked to the operation was also identified.

The company also announced that the individuals using the platform attempted to prepare files that appeared to be "intelligence reports" about an opposition politician and several non-governmental organizations. Anthropic stated that the accusations in these files were fabricated and noted that it rejected some of Claude's requests on the grounds that they were intended for political defamation.

The report also alleged that the actors running the operation attempted to establish commercial relations with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which regulates Malaysia's communications and multimedia sector. Anthropic stated that there is no evidence that this attempt was successful.

BBS Teknoloji denied the allegations. In its statement, the company reported that it had no "involvement, knowledge, or approval" regarding the activities in question. BBS announced that it is investigating the possibility that the company name, its digital assets, or information belonging to individuals previously associated with the company may have been used without its knowledge.

The company announced that if concrete findings are reached, it will file a criminal complaint with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against those responsible and initiate legal proceedings. Anthropic, on the other hand, noted that despite the infrastructure established, there is no evidence that the fake accounts and content created a widespread impact on Malaysian user communities, and it is unknown whether the operation influenced voter behavior or any election results.