Microsoft admits it sold Israel AI technology during Hamas war: ‘No evidence Azure was used to harm people’

Microsoft on Thursday admitted that it provided the Israeli military with advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services during its war with Gaza but stressed that it was not used to harm people.

The US tech giant in a statement issued on May 15 said conducted an internal review and engaged an external firm to assess reports that its technology was used to cause harm in Gaza. The statement further noted that it aided in efforts to locate and rescue Israeli hostages.

“Microsoft provides IMOD with software, professional services, Azure cloud services, and Azure AI services, including language translation. As with many governments around the world, we also work with the Israeli government to protect its national cyberspace against external threats,” Microsoft said.

Thursday's statement is probably Microsoft's first acknowledgement of its involvement in the war, that started after 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza so far.

It comes nearly three months after The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant’s close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with military use of commercial AI products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

What did Microsoft say?

Acknowledging its involvement in the war, Microsoft said its relationship with the Israeli military “is structured as a standard commercial relationship” where the customer is bound by all its policies.

“Based on our review, including both our internal assessments and external review, we have found no evidence that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies, or any of our other software, have been used to harm people or that IMOD has failed to comply with our terms of service or our AI Code of Conduct,” it said.

However, Microsoft further admitted that it ‘occasionally’ provides special access to its technologies to its customers beyond the terms of agreement.

Microsoft provided limited emergency support to the Israeli government in the weeks following the Hamas attack in 2023 to locate hostages, it said.

The company did not directly address several questions about precisely how the Israeli military is using its technologies

Microsoft does not have visibility into how customers use our software on their own servers or other devices, it said.