Two 17-year-old college students, living 820 kilometres apart in Bahawalpur and Karachi, have come under investigation for plotting murders inspired by American crime dramas. Though strangers, both youths were heavily influenced by shows like Breaking Bad and Dexter, adopting the personas of their protagonists to plan real-life crimes.
The teenager from Bahawalpur identified with Walter White from Breaking Bad, while the Karachi boy emulated Dexter Morgan from Dexter. Both reportedly sought assistance from Claude, an AI chatbot developed by Anthropic, to help replicate the dramatized crimes in their own contexts. One intended to kill his father, while the other targeted a man who had insulted his father.
Anthropic alerted the FBI after Claude detected conversations breaching its safety protocols, which then passed the information to Pakistani authorities. The Karachi case is being disclosed publicly for the first time. Between September 1 and 4, Claude flagged a user’s chat detailing a plan to kill the son of a police officer who had verbally abused his father, who was later identified as a head constable during an NCCIA investigation.
The Karachi youth expressed to the chatbot that the insult haunted him and that he had a detailed plan involving sedatives and disposing of the body in an open gutter, common in Karachi. He believed his victim would be dead within two weeks. Throughout the conversation, he likened himself to Dexter Morgan, a forensic science expert and vigilante serial killer who targeted other murderers under a moral code taught by his father.
The boy claimed he would avoid prison due to his forensic skills and discussed how Dexter would have handled the situation. When NCCIA traced him following the FBI tip-off, he denied any murder plot, insisting he was merely writing a story. His father also denied any criminal involvement, stating his son spends most of his time at home watching dramas and pursuing an IT diploma at college.
Although no charges have been filed, investigators remain concerned about the potential threat and continue to monitor him closely to prevent any violent acts.
Meanwhile, the Bahawalpur teenager, inspired by Walter White, developed an interest in chemistry after watching Breaking Bad. He set up a small home laboratory and obtained chemicals from Australia and Islamabad. Following a disagreement with his father, he attempted to poison him by mixing laboratory-grade methanol into his food.
When the poisoning failed, he consulted Claude on September 12, reporting that his father had “accidentally” ingested 15–20ml of methanol but suffered no harm, and asked the chatbot for an explanation. He also claimed knowledge of creating dangerous poisons. After Claude refused to assist further, the boy expressed frustration and turned to other AI chatbots, including Grok (xAI) and ChatGPT (OpenAI). However, only Claude reported the incident to the FBI.
Following the FBI alert, the Bahawalpur boy was tracked and questioned but denied any malicious intent. His father supported him throughout, and a court granted bail after the father forgave him. Despite this, the case has raised alarms at NCCIA due to the boy’s chemical experimentation.
An official highlighted the importance of imagination in detecting such plots, referencing the 9/11 Commission Report’s identification of imagination failure as a critical factor in missed threats. The official warned that in the era of AI, failing to anticipate potential dangers is not an option, emphasizing that if one can imagine a plot, AI could potentially facilitate its execution.
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