Israel’s use of AI in Gaza is a terrifying model coming to a country near you
An Israeli surveillance aircraft and F-16 fighter jets perform during an air show in Tel Aviv on 5 May 2022
Antony Loewenstein writes in Middle East Eye on 28 January 2025:
Israel could not fight its wars of conquest without a host of foreign players supporting, arming and funding it. From Washington and Berlin sending billions of dollars of weapons to Israel since 7 October 2023, to diplomatic backing at the United Nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has enjoyed an unparalleled level of tangible endorsement during his nation’s mission of annihilation in Gaza and beyond.
What’s far less understood and scrutinised is the extent of corporate interests behind the Israeli war machine.
While it’s widely known that countless Israeli defence and surveillance companies are integral to the country’s military, from Elbit Systems to Israel Aerospace Industries, fewer people know that some of the world’s biggest tech companies – including Google, Microsoft and Amazon – are deeply enmeshed with the Israeli army.
In a recent investigation, The Washington Post revealed that Google “rushed to sell” artificial intelligence (AI) tools to Israel soon after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 because it feared losing business to its rival, Amazon. Although the Post didn’t confirm how Israel was using these tools, it’s clear that Israel has utilised enhanced AI in its mass killing campaign in Gaza over the past 15 months.
Another story published this month by +972 Magazine details the extensive collaboration between Microsoft and the Israeli military, both before and after 7 October 2023. It outlines how the corporation’s cloud services were used by units in the naval, ground and air forces, along with the intelligence gathering branch, Unit 8200 – all as Israel was committing genocide and war crimes on an unprecedented scale.
Massive database
Amazon and Google established Project Nimbus with Israel to assist various branches of its government, including the military, in a 2021 deal that was publicly and privately opposed by many employees – but the project continues to this day, with no transparency or accountability.
These corporate behemoths are storing massive amounts of information about every aspect of Palestinian life in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and elsewhere.