Microsoft announced today, Thursday, that it has disrupted a group of cloud computing services and artificial intelligence that was used by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, after an internal review of the company was concluded that there is “primary evidence” that supports media reports that talk about a control system in Gaza and the West Bank.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said that the company started the review after the Guardian newspaper published an investigation into accusations against the Israeli army unit.
“We do not provide technology to allow the collective monitoring of civilians,” Smith added in a blog published on the Microsoft website.
Microsoft informed the Israeli Ministry of Defense of its decision “to stop and disrupt specific contributions to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, including its use of specific cloud services, storage technologies, services and technologies based on artificial intelligence,” said Smith.
Smith also stressed that this measure does not affect the services of cybersecurity provided by Microsoft to Israel and other countries in the Middle East.
The decision to stop the use of a 8200 unit for some Microsoft technologies comes based on an investigation published by the “Guardian” last month, which revealed the use of the Azor platform to store and process huge quantities of Palestinian communications data in a large -scale monitoring program.
The investigation stated that Israel relied on Microsoft cloud computing services in what he described as “expanded monitoring” of the Palestinians.
Microsoft said that the ongoing review reached evidence that supports elements of the Guardian investigation, including details related to the consumption of the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the storage capacity of Azure in the Netherlands and its use of artificial intelligence services.
At the same time, the company has not been disclosed on technical details or additional documents in its brief statement on the review.
On the other hand, Microsoft indicated that its decision to stop and disrupt certain contributions was taken during the continued review, in a move that the company deems necessary due to the initial results that show its existence.
It is noteworthy that Microsoft witnessed in late August the dismissal of four employees who participated in protests inside the company’s headquarters due to the company’s relations with Israel, including two who participated in a sit -in in front of the CEO’s office.
Microsoft explained at the time that the end of the service of these employees came “in the wake of serious violations of the company’s policies” and that the demonstrations on the site “caused major safety concerns.”
