Microsoft have finally broken their silence over reports about the use of Azure and Microsoft generative AI tech by the Israeli military during the latter’s on-going invasion and bombardment of Gaza, which has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
In an unsigned statement published 15th May 2025, Microsoft confirm that they have supplied technology to the Israeli armed forces during the assault on Gaza, which began following the killing and abduction of Israeli civilians on October 7th 2023. They contend, however, that their own internal reporting has found “no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.” The news comes a few weeks after the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement called on people to avoid Microsoft games and gaming services in protest at the company’s dealings with the Israel Defense Forces.
According to several investigations earlier this year, including a sizeable February report from the Associated Press, the IDF have made use of Microsoft’s generative AI services extensively for combat and intelligence activities since October 2023. This includes the alleged use of genAI models to analyse and prepare data for the purpose of targeting airstrikes. The AP investigation – which is based on interviews with current and former members of Microsoft and the Israeli armed forces, together with internal company data and documents – also discusses the Israeli military’s relationship with other big tech companies, including Google, Amazon, Palantir, Cisco, and Oracle.
These reports have intensified fears among many Microsoft staff that their work is being used as an instrument of war and oppression. Back in May 2024, Microsoft workers launched a petition, “No Azure for Apartheid,” demanding an independent audit for potential human rights violations. Microsoft leadership have taken a hard line with certain, more visible protests about the sale of Microsoft services to the Israeli military. In April this year, they fired two people who spoke out at company anniversary events.
Now, Microsoft are trying to reassure those who remain. In the blog post, Microsoft announce the completion of an internal review of claims that Microsoft technology has been used “to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza,” with “additional fact-finding” supplied by an external firm. The blog post comments that Microsoft’s supply of tech to the Israel Ministry of Defense is “structured as a standard commercial relationship,” and is therefore subject to their acceptable use policy and AI Code of Conduct, together with their overall commitment to human rights. Microsoft say that, based on “both our internal assessments and external review,” they’ve found no evidence that the Israeli armed forces have failed to comply with either document.
The blog also notes that military organisations “typically use their own proprietary software or applications from defense-related providers for the types of surveillance and operations that have been the subject of our employees’ questions.” Microsoft, it says, have not created anything like this for the IMOD.
The blog adds, however, that Microsoft did provide the IMOD with “special access” to their technologies in the course of “limited emergency support to the Israeli government in the weeks following October 7, 2023, to help rescue hostages”. Microsoft say they retained “significant oversight” during this period, “including approval of some requests and denial of others,” so as “to help save the lives of hostages while also honoring the privacy and other rights of civilians in Gaza.”
The post also caveats that Microsoft do not have full awareness of how the Israeli military may have used any Microsoft technology that runs on their own servers. “This is typically the case for on premise software,” it argues. “Nor do we have visibility to the IMOD’s government cloud operations, which are supported through contracts with cloud providers other than Microsoft. By definition, our reviews do not cover these situations.”
It’s an extremely brief response to a lengthy and disturbing series of claims, which expects the reader to take a lot on trust. The blog post does not include the full text of Microsoft’s internal and external assessments, nor does it respond to the detail of the allegations made by the Associated Press and other publications. It doesn’t even name the firm hired to carry out “additional fact-finding” for their review.
The No Azure for Apartheid movement have already called on Microsoft to release a full copy of their internal review. “It’s very clear that their intention with this statement is not to actually address their worker concerns, but rather to make a PR stunt to whitewash their image that their relationship with the Israeli military has tarnished,” former Microsoft worker Hossam Nasr argues in a statement, circulated by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Nasr and his colleague Abdo Mohamed were themselves fired by Microsoft last year, after they helped organise a vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza. They’ve since joined the BDS boycott on Xbox and Microsoft gaming products, which you can read more about on the official BDS site.
