Microsoft Criticized for AI and Cloud Services Used by Israeli Military in Gaza
Microsoft is facing criticism for providing cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli military during the Gaza conflict, including mass surveillance capabilities using Microsoft Azure. Employee protests, including from senior AI leadership, highlight concerns about the company's support for military operations in Gaza.
What happened
According to the Guardian in January 2025, Microsoft provided the Israeli military with additional cloud computing and data storage services after October 7, 2023, and signed multi-million dollar contracts for thousands of hours of technical support.
According to Associated Press in February 2025, the Israeli military uses Microsoft Azure to collect information through mass surveillance operations, including phone calls, text messages and voice messages converted to translated text, using rapid search techniques for specific terms across large volumes of data.
Reported impact
Microsoft employees, including the CEO of the company's artificial intelligence unit Mustafa Suleiman, protested the services provided to Israel during the company's 50th anniversary celebrations in February 2025.
Index analysis
According to Associated Press, Israeli military use of AI technologies provided by Microsoft and OpenAI increased approximately 200-fold in March 2024 compared to before October 7, 2023.
The quantity of data stored by the Israeli military on Microsoft servers increased to more than 13.6 petabytes between March and July 2024, double the previous period, with server usage increasing approximately two-thirds in the two months following October 7, 2023.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.