Microsoft says it provided AI to Israeli military for war but denies use to harm people in Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that it sold precocious artificial quality and unreality computing services to the Israeli subject during the warfare successful Gaza and aided successful efforts to find and rescue Israeli hostages. But the institution besides said it has recovered nary grounds to day that its Azure level and AI technologies were utilized to people oregon harm radical successful Gaza.

The unsigned blog post connected Microsoft’s firm website appears to beryllium the company’s archetypal nationalist acknowledgement of its heavy engagement successful the war, which started aft Hamas killed astir 1,200 radical successful Israel and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands successful Gaza.

It comes astir 3 months aft an investigation by The Associated Press revealed antecedently unreported details astir the American tech giant’s adjacent concern with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with subject usage of commercialized AI products skyrocketing by astir 200 times aft the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The AP reported that the Israeli subject uses Azure to transcribe, construe and process quality gathered done wide surveillance, which tin past beryllium cross-checked with Israel’s in-house AI-enabled targeting systems and vice versa.

The concern reflects a increasing thrust by tech companies to merchantability their artificial quality products to militaries for a wide scope of uses, including successful Israel, Ukraine and the United States. However, quality rights groups person raised concerns that AI systems, which tin beryllium flawed and prone to errors, are being utilized to assistance marque decisions astir who oregon what to target, resulting successful the deaths of guiltless people.

Microsoft said Thursday that worker concerns and media reports had prompted the institution to motorboat an interior reappraisal and prosecute an outer steadfast to undertake “additional fact-finding.” The connection did not place the extracurricular steadfast oregon supply a transcript of its report.

The connection besides did not straight code respective questions astir precisely however the Israeli subject is utilizing its technologies, and the institution declined Friday to remark further. Microsoft declined to reply written questions from The AP astir however its AI models helped translate, benignant and analyse quality utilized by the subject to prime targets for airstrikes.

The company's connection said it had provided the Israeli subject with software, nonrecreational services, Azure unreality retention and Azure AI services, including connection translation, and had worked with the Israeli authorities to support its nationalist cyberspace against outer threats. Microsoft said it had besides provided “special entree to our technologies beyond the presumption of our commercialized agreements” and “limited exigency support” to Israel arsenic portion of the effort to assistance rescue the much than 250 hostages taken by Hamas connected Oct. 7.

“We provided this assistance with important oversight and connected a constricted basis, including support of immoderate requests and denial of others,” Microsoft said. “We judge the institution followed its principles connected a considered and cautious basis, to assistance prevention the lives of hostages portion besides honoring the privateness and different rights of civilians successful Gaza.”

The institution did not reply whether it oregon the extracurricular steadfast it hired communicated oregon consulted with the Israeli subject arsenic portion of its interior probe. It besides did not respond to requests for further details astir the peculiar assistance it provided to the Israeli subject to retrieve hostages oregon the circumstantial steps to safeguard the rights and privateness of Palestinians.

In its statement, the institution besides conceded that it “does not person visibility into however customers usage our bundle connected their ain servers oregon different devices.” The institution added that it could not cognize however its products mightiness beryllium utilized done different commercialized unreality providers.

In summation to Microsoft, the Israeli subject has extended contracts for unreality oregon AI services with Google, Amazon, Palantir and respective different large American tech firms.

Microsoft said the Israeli military, similar immoderate different customer, was bound to travel the company’s Acceptable Use Policy and AI Code of Conduct, which prohibit the usage of products to inflict harm successful immoderate mode prohibited by law. In its statement, the institution said it had recovered “no evidence” the Israeli subject had violated those terms.

Emelia Probasco, a elder chap for the Center for Security and Emerging Technology astatine Georgetown University, said the connection is noteworthy due to the fact that fewer commercialized exertion companies person truthful intelligibly laid retired standards for moving globally with planetary governments.

“We are successful a singular infinitesimal wherever a company, not a government, is dictating presumption of usage to a authorities that is actively engaged successful a conflict,” she said. “It’s similar a vessel shaper telling a state you tin lone usage our tanks for these circumstantial reasons. That is simply a caller world.”

Israel has utilized its immense trove of quality to some people Islamic militants and behaviour raids into Gaza seeking to rescue hostages, with civilians often caught successful the crossfire. For example, a February 2024 cognition that freed 2 Israeli hostages successful Rafah resulted successful the deaths of 60 Palestinians. A June 2024 raid successful the Nuseirat exile camp freed 4 Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity but resulted successful the deaths of astatine slightest 274 Palestinians.

Overall, Israel’s invasions and extended bombing campaigns successful Gaza and Lebanon person resulted successful the deaths of much than 50,000 people, galore of them women and children.

No Azure for Apartheid, a radical of existent and erstwhile Microsoft employees, called connected Friday for the institution to publically merchandise a afloat transcript of the investigative report.

“It’s precise wide that their volition with this connection is not to really code their idiosyncratic concerns, but alternatively to marque a PR stunt to whitewash their representation that has been tarnished by their narration with the Israeli military,” said Hossam Nasr, a erstwhile Microsoft idiosyncratic fired successful October aft helium helped signifier an unauthorized vigil astatine the company’s office for Palestinians killed successful Gaza.

Cindy Cohn, enforcement manager of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, applauded Microsoft Friday for taking a measurement toward transparency. But she said the connection raised galore unanswered questions, including details astir however Microsoft’s services and AI models were being utilized by the Israeli subject connected its ain authorities servers.

“I’m gladsome there’s a small spot of transparency here,” said Cohn, who has agelong called connected U.S. tech giants to beryllium much unfastened astir their subject contracts. “But it is hard to quadrate that with what’s really happening connected the ground.”

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Burke reported from San Francisco and Mednick from Jerusalem.

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Contact AP’s planetary investigative squad astatine Investigative@ap.org oregon https://www.ap.org/tips/

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