Ah, Microsoft. The tech giant that brought us Windows, Office, and now, apparently, a cozy relationship with the Israeli military. According to leaked documents, Microsoft has embedded itself so deeply into Israel’s military infrastructure that it’s practically part of the family. And what a family it is.
The outlet +972 Magazine in collaboration with The Guardian, and Drop Site, is reporting on the troubling relationship between US-based Microsoft and the Israel’s Defense Ministry, especially as it relates to the genocide in Palestine.
Since October 7, the Israeli military has been leaning heavily on Microsoft’s cloud and AI services, courtesy of their partner, OpenAI. You know, the folks behind ChatGPT. Because when you’re launching airstrikes and managing a “target bank,” you need the best in AI technology, right?
The documents reveal that dozens of Israeli army units, from air to naval forces, have been snapping up services from Microsoft’s Azure platform like it’s Black Friday. Even the elite intelligence squad, Unit 8200, is in on the action. And let’s not forget the Military Advocate General’s Corps, which prosecutes Palestinians and lawbreaking soldiers. Because nothing says justice like a cloud-based solution.
Microsoft has also been generous enough to provide the Israeli military with access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model. Yes, the same model that powers ChatGPT. Because when you’re conducting military operations, you need an AI that can chat, translate, and analyze documents. Who knew that the future of warfare would involve so much natural language processing?
But wait, there’s more! Microsoft isn’t just selling services; they’re embedding their staff with different military units to support the rollout. That’s right, Microsoft experts are now an integral part of the Israeli military team. It’s like a tech startup, but with more camouflage and fewer beanbag chairs.
An intelligence officer who served in a technological role in Unit 8200 in recent years, and worked directly with Microsoft Azure employees before October 7 to develop a surveillance system used to monitor Palestinians, told +972 and Local Call that the company’s developers became so embedded that he referred to them as “people who are already working with the unit,” as if they were soldiers.
Yuval Abraham, +972 Magazine
It’s pretty damning, isn’t it? The fact that Israeli soldiers consider Microsoft Azure employees as part of their own ranks speaks volumes about the depth of this partnership. It’s like the lines between tech support and military personnel have blurred to the point of non-existence. When tech engineers are embedded so deeply that they’re seen as soldiers, it raises some serious ethical and operational questions.
Imagine being a Microsoft engineer, thinking you’re going to help optimize cloud storage, and suddenly you’re part of military operations. It’s a stark reminder of how technology and warfare are becoming increasingly intertwined. The implications of this are vast and unsettling, especially when you consider the potential for misuse of such powerful tools. It’s a brave new world, but not necessarily one we should be celebrating.
According to the report, over the past year the Israeli Defesne Ministry spent $10 million on 19,000 hours of the company’s engineering support.
In the first six months of the war, the Israeli military’s use of Azure’s cloud storage facilities jumped by 60%. And why not? When you’re managing the population registry and movement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, you need all the storage you can get. Plus, with the army’s systems overwhelmed and resources exhausted, turning to civilian cloud providers was a no-brainer. After all, who needs internal servers when you can just “go outside” to the wonderful world of cloud providers?
Although the documents do not specify how the different army units use these cloud storage and AI tools, they do indicate that about a third of the purchases were intended for “air-gapped” systems that are isolated from the internet and public networks, strengthening the possibility that the tools have been used for operational purposes — such as combat and intelligence — as opposed to simply logistical or bureaucratic functions. Indeed, two sources in Unit 8200 confirmed that the Military Intelligence Directorate purchased storage and AI services from Microsoft Azure for intelligence-gathering activities, and three other sources in the unit confirmed that similar services were purchased from Amazon AWS.
Yuval Abraham, +972 Magazine
Microsoft and the Israeli military, working hand in hand to bring you the latest in cloud computing and AI technology. It’s a brave new world where tech giants and military forces collaborate to create a more efficient, data-driven approach to conflict. And who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll all look back and marvel at how far we’ve come. Or not.
Stateside, the backlash within Microsoft is palpable. Employees are not just upset—they’re actively protesting the company’s involvement in the Palestine war. The “No Azure for Apartheid” coalition has been vocal, organizing vigils and speaking out against the use of Microsoft’s technology by the Israeli military.
The tension reached a boiling point when Microsoft fired two employees who organized a vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza. This move has only fueled the fire, with more employees joining the protest and demanding that Microsoft cease its support for what they see as complicity in the ongoing conflict. It’s a stark reminder that even within tech giants, there are voices demanding accountability and ethical responsibility.
It’s not just Microsoft that’s entangled in this mess. Google and Amazon’s AWS are also deeply involved in supporting the Israeli military’s operations in Gaza.
Google has been selling AI technology to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel’s defense ministry, ramping up their access to advanced AI tools like Vertex and Gemini. Despite public statements claiming their technology isn’t for military use, internal documents reveal a different story. Google employees have protested this involvement, but the company has continued to provide these services, even firing employees who voiced their concerns.
Amazon’s AWS is another major player, providing cloud storage and AI services to the Israeli military. The IDF uses AWS to store massive amounts of data, including surveillance information on Gaza’s population. This data has been used in military operations, including airstrikes. The collaboration between AWS and the IDF has been described as providing “very significant operational effectiveness” in the Gaza conflict.
So, it’s a trifecta of tech giants—Microsoft, Google, and Amazon—each playing a significant role in the ongoing conflict, raising serious ethical and humanitarian concerns around the world.
Microsoft has yet to respond to a request for comment and the Israeli army and Defense Ministry have also gone silent.
