Istanbul tech firm rejects claims it abused Claude AI to sway M'sian politics

An Istanbul-based tech company has denied involvement in an influence operation that allegedly sought to abuse artificial intelligence firm Anthropic’s flagship Claude model to manipulate elections in Malaysia.

BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri’s denial comes after Anthropic’s report said the company sold access to an “influence-as-a-service” platform that targeted Malaysia’s information ecosystem.

In a Turkish-language statement posted on its LinkedIn page on Sept 11, the company denied the allegations, emphasising that it has no “involvement, knowledge, or approval” regarding the activities detailed in Anthropic’s September 2026 Threat Intelligence Report.

Noting that its internal review process is ongoing, it said the procedure’s scope includes assessing whether its name or digital assets had been used without its knowledge, possibly by persons previously associated with the company.

“Once initial concrete findings are obtained, a criminal complaint will be filed with the chief public prosecutor’s office against those responsible and the necessary legal actions will be initiated,” it added.

The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette states that BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri is jointly owned by Turkish nationals Türker Batuhan Sarı and Bedri Sarı, who each own a 50 percent stake in the company.

Influence ops

Anthropic’s report released on Sept 10 detailed that threat actors used Claude to orchestrate over 1,000 accounts on X and generated artificial support for government figures, including the sitting Malaysian prime minister.

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However, the report stressed that there was no evidence the operation gained significant traction among real social media users.

Besides creating intelligence dossiers to spread false allegations against an opposition politician and civil society organisations, the report said the threat actors also ran a fake news site, Malaysia Pulse, which had a YouTube channel with only one video.

Malaysiakini's checks found that Malaysia Pulse’s website and accounts associated with the operation are no longer accessible.

The report added that the actors had pursued a contract with “Malaysia’s national communications regulator”, though there is no evidence it succeeded.

Who's behind it?

In a statement on Sept 11, MCMC similarly said it does not engage in the activities or arrangements described in Anthropic’s report, affirming that it is taking the report seriously and gathering more information to decide its next steps.  

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said has since called for a thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged influence operation. 

Azalina, who is also Umno information chief, said the key questions are who was behind it, who financed it, and whose interests it served.

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