Microsoft’s controversial military deal fuels ethical debate
At Microsoft's conference celebrating the company's 50th anniversary, an incident occurred involving a protester who accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of using Microsoft's technological solutions in operations in the Gaza Strip.
The individual, identifying as Mustafa, claimed that around 50,000 Palestinians died as a result of Israeli operations, and that the IDF utilized technology from the Redmond giant. Her emotional statement occurred about one minute into the recording.
It is worth noting that it's unclear exactly how many people fell victim to the conflict — data from both sides may be excessively inflated or understated. An additional problem is the fact that Hamas fighters often operated in civilian clothing, making it difficult to distinguish them from civilians.
According to journalists from The Guardian and collaborating editorial teams, Microsoft did indeed provide its tools to the IDF. Revenues from these transactions amounted to approximately 10 million dollars (14 million Canadian dollars) after October 7, 2023, and plans for 2024 could generate an additional 30 million (43 million Canadian dollars), though the actual amounts could be higher. The Israeli army uses Azure cloud services and the ChatGPT artificial intelligence.
Microsoft and the Israeli Defense Forces
This technology is invaluable in modern military conflicts. In an era of widely used drones and reconnaissance platforms, it is possible to monitor the battlefield situation around the clock. However, the massive amount of data generated poses a problem for effective processing.
Traditional military analytical structures are insufficient to quickly and efficiently analyze this stream of information. Therefore, AI algorithms are being introduced, which can condense many hours of recordings into short fragments requiring further analysis by specialists, which is highly appreciated.
The same algorithms also support the decision-making process, enabling rapid data transfer from operational sections to analysts and command, facilitating swift actions, such as airstrikes or artillery barrages. Command information systems are becoming the norm — a similarly conceptual system is being tested by the U.S. Army, and makeshift ones, using platforms like Discord, by the armed forces of Ukraine or Russia.
The creation and maintenance of such advanced systems, like the Azure infrastructure for the IDF, involves enormous costs and resource requirements. Similar systems, such as TITAN for the U.S. Army, demonstrate the critical role that contemporary technology and cloud infrastructure play in modern military actions.
