Microsoft He admitted on Thursday that he sold the services of artificial intelligence and the advanced cloud computing of the Israeli army during the war in Gaza and helped in efforts to identify and save the Israeli hostages. But the company also said that it had not yet found any evidence that the Azure platform and artificial intelligence techniques were used to target or harm people in Gaza.
theNon -signed blogOn Microsoft’s website, it seems that the company’s first public recognition of its deep participation in the war, which began after Hamas was killed about 1,200 people in Israel and led to the death of tens of thousands in Gaza.
It comes after nearly three months Investigation by Associated Press The previously reported details about the American technology giant’s partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense have been revealed, with the military use of artificial intelligence products that rise about 200 times after Hamas’s killer attack on October 7, 2023. AP reported that the Israeli army uses Azure to copy, translate and address the intelligence collected through collective monitoring, which can then be verified with targeting systems in Israel in the company and vice versa correct.
The partnership reflects an increasing campaign by technology companies to sell artificial intelligence products to armies to a wide range of uses, including in Israel, Ukraine and the United States. However, human rights groups have sparked fears that artificial intelligence systems, which can be flawed and exposed to errors, are used to help make decisions about or what they target, leading to the death of innocent people.
Microsoft said on Thursday that employees’ fears and media reports prompted the company to launch an internal review and employ an external company to do a “additional design of the facts.” The statement did not specify the outer company or submit a copy of its report.
The statement also did not address many questions directly about how the Israeli army used its techniques, and the company refused on Friday to comment. Microsoft refused to answer AP questions about how AI models helped translate, sort and analyze the intelligence used by the army to determine the targets of air strikes.
The company’s statement said that it provided the Israeli army with professional software and services and the storage of Azzure and Azure Ai, including translating the language, and worked with the Israeli government to protect the national electronic space from external threats. Microsoft said it also provided “special access to our technologies along with the terms of our commercial agreements” and “limited emergency support” to Israel as part of the efforts made to help save more than 250 hostages by Hamas on October 7.
“We have provided this help with great supervision and on a limited basis, including approval of some requests and denial of others,” Microsoft said. “We believe that the company has followed its principles on a deliberate and accurate basis, to help save the hostages of the hostages while honoring privacy and other rights of civilians in Gaza.”
The company did not answer whether it was or the foreign company that it rented to communicate or consult with the Israeli army as part of its internal investigation. It also did not respond to requests for additional details about the special assistance he provided to the Israeli army to restore the hostages or the steps specified to protect the rights and privacy of the Palestinians.
In its statement, the company also admitted that it “does not enjoy how customers use our programs on their own servers or other devices.” The company added that it cannot know how its products can be used through other commercial cloud service providers.
In addition to Microsoft, the Israeli army has large contracts for cloud services or artificial intelligence with Googleand AmazonPalantir and several other major American technology companies.
Microsoft said that the Israeli army, like any other agent, is obligated to follow the companyAcceptable use policyandAI’s behavior rules blogWho prohibits the use of products to harm in any way prohibited under the law. In its statement, the company said it found “no evidence” that the Israeli army had violated these conditions.
Emilia Probasco, an older colleague at the Emerging Security and Technology Center at Georgetown University, said the statement is worth noting because a few commercial technology companies have clearly set standards to work worldwide with international governments.
She said: “We are in a wonderful moment where a company, not a government, dictates the conditions of use to a government that actively involved in a conflict.” “It is like a tank manufacturer tells a country, you can only use our cabinets for these specific reasons. This is a new world.”
Israel has used a large group of intelligence for both the targeted Islamic militants and to make raids in Gaza that seeks to save the hostages, with civilians often in the crossing. For example, the February 2024 processDone two Israeli hostages in RafahThe death of 60 Palestinians. June 2024A raid in the Nuseirat refugee campFour Israeli hostages were freed from Hamas’s families, but led to the death of at least 274 Palestinians.
In general, Israel’s invasions and broad bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon have led to the death of more than 50,000 people, and many of them are women and children.
There is no AZURE For Apartheid, a group of current and previous Microsoft employees, on Friday for the company to issue a full copy of the investigation report publicly.
“It is very clear that their intention in this statement is not to address the worker’s concerns in reality, but rather in formulating public relations to whiten their image, which has distorted their relationship with the Israeli army,” said Hosam Nasr, a former worker in Microsoft.It was launched in OctoberAfter he helped organize the unauthorized protest at the company’s headquarters for the Palestinians who were killed in Gaza.
Cindy Cohen, Executive Director of the Electronic Border Foundation, praised Microsoft’s score on Friday to take a step towards transparency. But she said that the statement raised many unanswered questions, including details about how to use Microsoft services and artificial intelligence models by the Israeli army on its governmental servers.
“I am happy that there is little transparency here,” said Cohen, who has long called on technology giants to be more open to their military contracts. “But it is difficult to send with what is already happening on the ground.”
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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