Microsoft disables Israeli defense ministry's use of its cloud, AI services

Protesters march near the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle calling to end Microsoft’s Azure contracts with Israel, on May 21, 2024. (Photo/Reuters)

Microsoft on Thursday said it disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports of a surveillance system in Gaza and occupied West Bank.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said the company began the review after allegations published in an article by the Guardian in August about a unit of the Israeli forces.

While the review is ongoing, Microsoft said it found evidence supporting elements of the Guardian’s reporting, including details on IMOD’s consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.

“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” Smith said in a Microsoft blog.

What pushed Microsoft to act?

On August 6, a joint investigation by The Guardian, the Palestinian-Israeli publication +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call revealed that Israel's military intelligence agency had been using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store and analyse intercepted Palestinian phone calls at a vast scale.

Following a 2021 meeting between Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, a segregated Azure environment was established to house “sensitive workloads”, according to the investigation.

Internal documents and interviews indicate that Microsoft employees worked closely with Israeli military contractors to build a custom security architecture for the project, with some describing daily collaboration.

This infrastructure allowed Unit 8200 to store and process intercepted audio at an unprecedented scale.

Operational since 2022, the system allegedly stores millions of calls daily, which intelligence sources say have been instrumental in guiding air strikes, blackmail, detentions, and post facto justifications for killings in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Microsoft has been on the firing line of protests for months, with pro-Palestine activists staging sit-ins, encampments, and office disruptions under the No Azure for Apartheid banner.

No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft's Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.

In April, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's remarks were interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protesting employee during the technology company's 50th anniversary celebration over the firm's ties with Israel. That employee and another protesting employee were also subsequently fired.

Source: TRT