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 advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during the war in Gaza and aided in efforts to locate and rescue Israeli hostages But the company also disclosed it has detected no evidence to date that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza The unsigned blog post on Microsoft s corporate website appears to be the company s first residents acknowledgement of its deep involvement in the war which started after Hamas killed about people in Israel and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands in Gaza It comes nearly three months after an inquiry by The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant s close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense with military use of commercial AI products skyrocketing by nearly times after the deadly Oct Hamas attack The AP informed that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance which can then be cross-checked with Israel s in-house AI-enabled targeting systems and vice versa The partnership reflects a growing drive by tech companies to sell their artificial intelligence products to militaries for a wide range of uses including in Israel Ukraine and the United States However human rights groups have raised concerns that AI systems which can be flawed and prone to errors are being used to help make decisions about who or what to target resulting in the deaths of innocent people Microsoft explained Thursday that employee concerns and media reports had prompted the company to launch an internal review and hire an external firm to undertake additional fact-finding The message did not identify the outside firm or provide a copy of its description The announcement also did not directly address several questions about precisely how the Israeli military is using its technologies and the company declined Friday to comment further Microsoft declined to answer written questions from The AP about how its AI models helped translate sort and analyze intelligence used by the military to select targets for airstrikes The company s comment mentioned it had provided the Israeli military with program professional services Azure cloud storage and Azure AI services including language translation and had worked with the Israeli ruling body to protect its national cyberspace against external threats Microsoft reported it had also provided special access to our technologies beyond the terms of our commercial agreements and limited exigency patronage to Israel as part of the effort to help rescue the more than hostages taken by Hamas on Oct We provided this help with vital oversight and on a limited basis including approval of specific requests and denial of others Microsoft explained We believe the company followed its principles on a considered and careful basis to help save the lives of hostages while also honoring the privacy and other rights of civilians in Gaza The company did not answer whether it or the outside firm it hired communicated or consulted with the Israeli military as part of its internal probe It also did not respond to requests for additional details about the special assistance it provided to the Israeli military to recover hostages or the specific policies to safeguard the rights and privacy of Palestinians In its comment the company also conceded that it does not have visibility into how customers use our system on their own servers or other devices The company added that it could not know how its products might be used through other commercial cloud providers In addition to Microsoft the Israeli military has extensive contracts for cloud or AI services with Google Amazon Palantir and several other major American tech firms Microsoft commented the Israeli military like any other customer was bound to follow the company s Acceptable Use Agenda and AI Code of Conduct which prohibit the use of products to inflict harm in any way prohibited by law In its message the company revealed it had determined no evidence the Israeli military had violated those terms Emelia Probasco a senior fellow for the Center for Guard and Emerging Innovation at Georgetown University commented the comment is noteworthy because insufficient commercial machinery companies have so clearly laid out standards for working globally with international governments We are in a remarkable moment where a company not a governing body is dictating terms of use to a authorities that is actively engaged in a conflict she mentioned It s like a tank manufacturer telling a country you can only use our tanks for these specific reasons That is a new world Israel has used its vast trove of intelligence to both target Islamic militants and conduct raids into Gaza seeking to rescue hostages with civilians often caught in the crossfire For example a February operation that freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah resulted in the deaths of Palestinians A June raid in the Nuseirat refugee camp freed four Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity but resulted in the deaths of at least Palestinians Overall Israel s invasions and extensive bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of more than people a large number of of them women and children No Azure for Apartheid a group of current and former Microsoft employees called on Friday for the company to publicly release a full copy of the investigative summary It s very clear that their intention with this announcement is not to indeed address their worker concerns but rather to make a PR stunt to whitewash their image that has been tarnished by their relationship with the Israeli military mentioned Hossam Nasr a former Microsoft worker fired in October after he helped organize an unauthorized vigil at the company s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza Cindy Cohn executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation applauded Microsoft Friday for taking a step toward transparency But she noted the message raised several unanswered questions including details about how Microsoft s services and AI models were being used by the Israeli military on its own governing body servers I m glad there s a little bit of transparency here stated Cohn who has long called on U S tech giants to be more open about their military contracts But it is hard to square that with what s indeed happening on the ground Burke broadcasted from San Francisco and Mednick from Jerusalem Contact AP s global investigative unit at Investigative ap org or https www ap org tips The Associated Press receives financial assistance from the Omidyar Configuration to patronage coverage of artificial intelligence and its impact on society AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org Source