Microsoft says it has served Israel’s Ministry of Defense in a few weeks following the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks.
Microsoft has admitted that it has sold advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing capabilities to the Israeli military.
Microsoft said the additional feature is “limited emergency assistance” provided to “assist hostage rescue.”
The move came shortly after an attack on Israel by about 6,000 people from Hamas terrorist groups and other like-minded factions who killed 1,200 people and sought 251 more in shock attacks.
“We provided this help on a limited basis with important monitoring and including approval of some requests and rejections,” Microsoft said.
“We believe we followed the principles with careful standards that were considered to save the lives of hostages and to honor other rights of Gaza civilians.”
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The company also said it provided the Israeli military with software, professional services, Azure AI services, and related cloud storage in many ways, including cybersecurity and language translation.
Service approval arises as American tech companies expand contracts with military forces around the world. In addition to Microsoft, the Israeli military maintains cloud or AI services contracts with Amazon, Google, and Palantir, as well as small and medium-sized businesses.
This coexistence has now sparked concerns from human rights groups and advocacy groups, raising concerns that commercial AI services could promote the killing of civilians in conflict.
For example, No Azure, an apartheid pro-Palestinian advocacy group consisting of current and former Microsoft employees, accusing Microsoft of allowing targeting civilians in Gaza and complicity in what the group described as genocide.
In response, Microsoft said it had contracted with another company to conduct an internal review and undertake a fact-finding mission regarding the potential use of the tool against civilians in Gaza.
Microsoft did not release a full report but said it found no evidence that its products and services were linked to civilian casualties in Gaza.
“Based on these reviews, including interviews with dozens of employees and document evaluations, we saw no evidence that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technology was being used to target or harm people in the Gaza conflict,” the company said.
Microsoft added that although it had no access to internal mechanisms within the Israeli military, the organization was to follow the company’s acceptable usage policy and AI code of conduct, just like other customers.
These documents prohibit the use of products to cause harm in any way prohibited by law. In its statement, the company said it had determined that Israeli forces had “no evidence” that they had violated those terms.
“Our commitment to human rights guides how we engage in complex environments and how our technology is used. We share deep concerns about the loss of civilian lives in both Israel and Gaza, and support humanitarian aid in both places,” the company said.
