--- title: "Anthropic Reports User to the Police" description: "A Florida woman is now facing a second-degree felony charge after telling Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude about her violent ideas." date: "2026-10-05" modified: "2026-10-05" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/anthropic-claude-ai-chatbot-police-violence-safety" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Anthropic Reports User to the Police ![A police car with its lights turned on.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* With mounting pressure on AI labs to curb the many real-world harms their products cause consumers, it's never been clearer that they're monitoring users' conversations. Just ask Carli Michelle Heller, a woman arrested in Bonita Springs, Florida after allegedly telling Anthropic's chatbot Claude about her plan to "shoot up" a nearby sheriff's office. According [to *WINK News*](), Heller was charged with making a written threat of violence — a second-degree felony in Florida — after Anthropic's internal monitoring software flagged her chat logs for human review. After being viewed by a human employee at Anthropic, *WINK* reports, the company determined that Heller's plans rose to the level of a credible threat, ultimately informing local police. As Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told local reporters in a statement, the woman admitted to using Claude like a "diary," apparently unaware that her chat history could be read by Anthropic employees. There's a genuine tension between user privacy and the responsibility of AI companies to try to head off violent events. In the aftermath of the February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada, for instance, it quickly emerged that the perpetrator had relied heavily on ChatGPT to plan her shooting. Not only had OpenAI staffers [known about]() those chat logs prior to the shooting — they had been flagged for human review months prior — but [company executives]() even tried to hide and later downplay their product's role in encouraging the deadly attack. While Anthropic's own track record on [real-world harm]() is wretched, it seems the company is at least trying to avoid the same kind of incident — though with near-endless chatbot options now on the market, it could already be too late to prevent the next AI-assisted tragedy. **More on Anthropic:** *[Cult of Anthropic Insiders Rumored to Be Worshipping Claude as a God]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()