# US Military Modifies AI and Lethal Targeting Process After Iran School Strike

**By:** Katrina Manson  
**Published:** 2026-09-22T12:30:12.240Z  
**Source:** [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-22/us-military-modifies-ai-combat-targeting-after-iran-minab-school-strike)

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The changes include refining processes for vetting targets and adding open-source data feeds to better track civilian movement.

The site of a strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, on Aug. 10.
Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Takeaways  by Bloomberg AI

The US military command responsible for combat operations in the Middle East has made multiple changes to its lethal targeting process and boosted how it uses AI to help vet intelligence following a deadly strike against a school in Minab, Iran, according to US officials and people familiar with the matter.
The changes at US Central Command, which haven’t been previously reported, focus on three key areas: refining processes and workflows for refreshing and vetting planned targets, adding new open-source data feeds to better track civilian movement, and making dozens of upgrades to Maven Smart System, the AI-enabled battle-management program made by defense contractor Palantir Technologies Inc., according to the people, who asked not to be named to discuss sensitive matters.

These include new ways for Maven to sort through intelligence to help distinguish the function of a building, one of the people said.

The raft of changes at US Central Command, known as Centcom, highlight the need to reduce the risks of errors in large-scale, high-speed combat operations. Some defense officials and experts have warned privately that the chances of another Minab are still too high. 

More than 120 children were killed in a bungled Feb. 28 strike on the school, which was previously part of an Iranian military facility. On that day, the US hit 1,000 targets in a surprise attack, an overwhelming delivery of firepower that Cameron Stanley, head of the Pentagon’s digital and artificial intelligence office, said was enabled by Maven Smart System. 

In an interview, Stanley said dozens of upgrades to Maven — which is overseen by his office — include adding open-source feeds that can help track the movement of civilian maritime traffic, which became more important as the conflict progressed, he said. “Different types of things were identified, different challenges were identified, new data sources were incorporated,” he said.

In addition, Palantir built new capabilities into Maven in the days after the strike including AI agents that re-review underlying intelligence, which have caught new anomalies, Bloomberg previously reported.