Microsoft and Google found to have 'footprint' in Israeli military: Report

Since launching its devastating war on Gaza, Israel’s military has significantly expanded its reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, pouring resources into technologies from Google and Microsoft, according to reports from The Washington Post and +972 Magazine.

Documents obtained by The Post reveal Google’s cooperation with Israel’s Defence Ministry and military, including an internal memo from weeks after 7 October 2023 in which a Google employee pushed for increased AI access for the Israeli army. Further documents from spring and summer 2024 show additional requests for AI capabilities.

Meanwhile, records cited in +972 Magazine indicate that Israel’s use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud services skyrocketed after October 2023 - soaring sevenfold in just one month and increasing 64 times by March 2024.

In its report, +972 found that Microsoft has a "footprint" in Israel’s military operations, with its cloud and artificial intelligence services seeing a massive surge in sales to the Israeli army since the assault on Gaza began.

The tech giant reportedly has a “footprint in all major military infrastructures” in Israel.

A previous Washington Post investigation found that Israel had begun using an AI system called Habsora after 7 October 2023 to select human and infrastructure targets, raising concerns over the role of artificial intelligence in the military’s assault on Gaza.