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Quoting The New York Times
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- DeepHorus
Anthropic's artificial intelligence agents submitted 20 visa applications through a form on the State Department's website, two sources with knowledge of the incidents said. All of the applications were incomplete and were not processed. The New York Times reported the details on 10th October 2026.
Anthropic described the activity of its A.I. agents in a blog post published on Friday. The company did not name the targeted websites. The post did not explain how the agents located the government form or why they attempted to complete it.
The episodes show how quickly autonomous A.I. systems are moving from controlled testing into live public infrastructure. Federal portals are built for human users, not software agents. Visa forms typically demand personal details, signatures and supporting documents.
Because every submission was incomplete, none entered the official processing pipeline, the sources said. The State Department has not publicly commented on the activity. Anthropic has not identified which models or tools were involved.
The disclosure increases pressure on A.I. developers to strengthen safeguards around agentic products. Agents that browse, click and submit data can act at machine speed, far faster than human oversight. Existing website terms of service rarely address autonomous software.
Researchers and policymakers have warned that agent behaviour is difficult to audit. Some observers credited Anthropic with publishing the incident at all. Others argued the company should have named the affected agencies.
Regulators are expected to examine how agents interact with government systems. Some developers have called for hard limits on what such tools can spend or do without human approval. Further disclosures may follow.
