Iran Suspected of Using Chinese AI Satellite to Determine Attack Targets on US

Iran is suspected of utilising AI-based satellite imagery technology from a Chinese company to determine targets for attacks on United States (US) military bases in the Middle East. This suspicion arises from a US intelligence assessment stating that the AI-based satellite imagery analysis assisted Iran in identifying targets more precisely. This information was first revealed by an internal source from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to ABC News. The DIA is the US military intelligence agency under the Pentagon. According to the source, the Pentagon believes that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) utilised AI-processed satellite imagery data to determine attack targets, whether using missiles or drones. The source added that the publication of this AI-based satellite imagery poses a potential threat to the safety of US forces and their allies in the Middle East region. The company in question, as identified by the DIA, is MizarVision, a Chinese geospatial AI firm partially owned by the government. Ahead of the outbreak of the Iran conflict, MizarVision reportedly published satellite images of several US military facilities in the Middle East. These publications were shared complete with tagging data for various US military base locations. One example is the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. One week before the war, the company uploaded satellite images of the base at least six times on the social media platform Weibo. On 24 February, MizarVision uploaded an image showing the location of the Patriot air defence system. Three days later, they published another image displaying the positions of dozens of aircraft at the base. Less than 48 hours after the final upload, the base became the target of an Iranian retaliatory attack. One US military personnel was reported to have been seriously injured and died. From this incident, US intelligence agencies assess that the data published by MizarVision is suspected of having helped Iran in determining target priorities based on military assets. The company uses its software to identify various military capabilities, including specific types of aircraft, naval vessel locations, air defence system placements, and radar.