Brian Eno Criticizes Microsoft for Support of Israeli Military
Brian Eno, the composer of the Windows 95 startup sound, has penned an open letter calling for Microsoft to stop providing artificial intelligence and cloud services to the Israeli military. Titled 'Not in My Name,' the letter outlines the company's technological support for Israel's Ministry of Defense, as detailed in a Microsoft blog post last week. 'If you knowingly build systems that can enable war crimes, you inevitably become complicit in those crimes,' wrote Eno. In response, he pledges to donate his fee for the Windows 95 composition to victims of the attacks in Gaza.
In the letter, Eno said his original work with Microsoft 'represented a gateway to a promising technological future.' He added, 'I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war.'
Eno cited the Microsoft blog post as evidence of its collaboration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and the company's 'support of a regime,' he wrote, 'that is engaged in actions described by leading legal scholars and human rights organisations, the United Nations experts, and increasing numbers of governments from around the world, as genocidal.'
Eno went on to express solidarity with Microsoft workers who have 'done something truly disruptive and refused to stay silent.' Find his full letter below.
Brian Eno is a longtime critic of Israel and supporter of the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Through his support of the Palestinian people and the BDS movement, he has often urged musicians not to play concerts in Israel.
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Artists and labels around the world are protesting the war in Gaza by calling for action and donations, from Spain to Palestine to Jordan; from the New York DIY scene to the Italian avant-garde.
Not in My Name: An Open Letter to Microsoft from Brian Eno
In the mid-1990s, I was asked to compose a short piece of music for Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system. Millions - possibly even billions - of people have since heard that short start-up chime—which represented a gateway to a promising technological future. I gladly took on the project as a creative challenge and enjoyed the interaction with my contacts at the company. I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war.
Today, I'm compelled to speak, not as a compser this time, but as a citizen by the role Microsoft is playing in a very different kind of composition: one that leads to surveillance, violence, and destruction in Palestine.
In a blog post dated May 15, 2025, Microsoft acknowledged that it provides Israel's Ministry of Defence with 'software, professional services, Azure cloud services and Azure AI services, including language translation.' It went on to state that 'It is important to acknowledge that Microsoft does not have visibility into how customers use our software on their own servers or other devices'. These 'services' support a regime that is engaged in actions described by leading legal scholars and human rights organisations, the United Nations experts, and increasing numbers of governments from around the world, as genocidal. The collaboration between Microsoft and the Israeli government and army is no secret and involves the company's software being used in lethal technologies with 'funny' names like 'Where's Daddy?' (- guidance systems for tracking Palestinians in order to blow them up in their homes).
Selling and facilitating advanced AI and cloud services to a government engaged in systemic ethnic cleansing is not 'business is usual'. It is complicity. If you knowingly build systems that can enable war crimes, you inevitably become complicit in those crimes.
We now live in an age where corporations like Microsoft often command more influence than governments. I believe that with such a power comes an absolute ethical responsibility. Accordingly, I call on Microsoft to suspend all services that support any operations that contribute to violations of international law.
My new start up chime is this: stand in solidarity with the brave Microsoft workers who have done something truly disruptive and refused to stay silent. They risk their livelihoods for people who have lost and will continue to lose their lives.
I invite artists, technologists, musicians, and all people of conscience to join me in this call.
I also pledge that the fee I originally received for that Windows 95 chime will now go towards helping the victims of the attacks on Gaza. If a sound can signal a real change then let it be this one.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
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