Brian Eno Criticizes Microsoft for Support of Israeli Military
Brian Eno, February 2025 (Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
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.
Cease-Fire Now: 16 Benefit Compilations for Palestine
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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
14 minutes ago
- New York Post
Sinbad returns to acting 5 years after stroke: ‘It's been really difficult'
He's back! Sinbad has returned to the spotlight, starring in Tyler Perry's upcoming thriller, 'Straw.' The role marks the first time the 68-year-old comedian has been back on the screen since suffering a stroke that left him hospitalized for months five years ago. Sinbad — whose real name is David Adkins — plays Benny in the upcoming about a single mother willing to do anything to help her ill daughter. 7 Sinbad in the upcoming thriller 'Straw.' Netflix The comedian stars alongside lead actress Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd and Teyana Taylor. In the first look of Sinbad's character, the usually cheery comedian looks down on his luck, sporting pale skin, a white shirt with a checkered jacket and a black beaning. Perry, 55, addressed Sinbad's comeback during a screening of the film in New York on Tuesday, June 3. 'It's so important to me, as a man, that men want to support and take care of their families,' the flick's director told Entertainment Tonight. 'I know it's been really difficult for him, so to give him this opportunity made me feel amazing,' Perry continued. 'I'm really excited for him. And he delivered.' 7 The Tyler Perry film also includes Glynn Turman, Teyana Taylor, Sherri Shepherd, Taraji P. Henson. Jackie Brown / 7 Sinbad suffered a stroke in 2020 and was hospitalized for 9 months. Getty Images Sinbad suffered a stroke in October 2020 and was confined to the hospital for nine months. 'It is out of sincere love that we share Sinbad, our beloved husband and father, is recovering from a recent stroke,' his loved ones posted to his Instagram at the time. 'Sinbad is a light source of love and joy for many generations. While he is beginning his road to recovery, we are faithful and optimistic that he will bring laughter into our hearts soon,' the statement continued. 7 The comedian had to learn how to walk again. sinbadbad/Instagram 7 Sinbad has detailed his road to recovery on social media. sinbadbad/Instagram In November 2022, 'The Sinbad Show' star gave his followers a glimpse at his recovery, with his family revealing he was still learning to walk again after his stroke. 'Survival odds from this type of event are approximately 30 percent,' they shared, adding that Sinbad's limbs were slowly regaining mobility. 'Sinbad has already beaten the odds and has made significant progress beyond what anyone expected, but there are still miles to go.' Sharing a photo of the actor using a walker to move, his team wrote, 'Sinbad appreciates all the love and support you have shown him over the last two years.' 7 This marks the first acting role for the star since his health crisis. Getty Images The family then revealed that his stroke was brought on by a blood clot, which traveled from his heart to his brain. Less than two years later, Sinbad reemerged when he joined his cast from 'A Different World' via Zoom on February 29, 2024, for a tour of historically Black colleges and universities. After getting positive feedback about the appearance, he took to social media for the first time since 2022 to express his appreciation and personally address his supporters. 7 Sinbad promised his fans in 2022, 'Expect to see more of me soon.' FOX Image Collection via Getty Images 'Thank you for your prayers, support, and positive thoughts. They've carried me this far and will see me through to the finish line. It really is a different world out here!' he wrote, along with a video message. Before ending the video, Sinbad made a promise to his loyal fans. 'Expect to see more of me soon, and don't freak out if you turn around and I'm standing right behind you. 'Sinbad, I can't believe you're here!' You can't believe it? You better believe it. Miracles happen,' he shared. 'Straw' is available to stream on Netflix starting Friday, June 6.
CNN
19 minutes ago
- CNN
Gaza Aid Operation Pauses After Days Of Deadly Shootings - The Lead with Jake Tapper - Podcast on CNN Audio
Gaza Aid Operation Pauses After Days Of Deadly Shootings The Lead with Jake Tapper 87 mins Despite Elon Musk trashing his bill, President Trump is moving on and meeting with Senate Republicans. Can he keep them all together? Plus, what Trump says Putin told him about Ukraine's two surprise attacks this week and Russia's clear plans to respond.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shooting of Israeli embassy staffers underscores US ‘era of violent populism'
The killing of two staff of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC comes as the war in Gaza has splintered the American body politic alongside the ongoing rise in political violence. A shooter, identified as Elias Rodriguez, shot the two people, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday after they left an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee. Rodriguez reportedly chanted 'free, free Palestine' while being detained by security. This is the latest act of violence in a string of incidents that have affected Jewish, Arab and Muslim communities in the US. A man in Illinois attacked a six-year-old and his mother, both Palestinian American, and killed the boy in 2023 soon after Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel, and three Palestinian students were shot in Vermont in November 2023. Reports of antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism have soared since the war began. But an uptick in violence is not uniquely associated with the war in Gaza. It's a feature of this 'era of violent populism', said Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats. Between assassination attempts on Donald Trump, ongoing threats of violence against a wide swath of government officials including judges, and an arson attack against the Pennsylvania governor, Wednesday's shooting was not one that happened in isolation. 'This is a chronic illness in our country,' Pape said. 'This is not a set of isolated events.' People who commit acts of political violence often believe they will be celebrated by some portion of the public that supports the same goals, he said. The alleged killer's supposed manifesto nods at this. 'They think about how they want to be perceived and what they want the news to be saying about them afterwards,' said Liliana Mason, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. 'And it's a very kind of self-oriented set of motivations.' 'We know that this guy screamed Free Palestine. He probably thought that he was doing something political. But also, there are plenty of people who think we should free Palestine, who are not going to go murder a couple people.' A small portion of the pro-Palestinian movement has formally embraced the language of armed resistance, but the vast majority of those protesting against the war have been non-violent. In the day since the shooting, condemnations have come from all sides of the political spectrum, including from politicians who have opposed US involvement in the war and joined pro-Palestinian protests. It also sparked a debate over the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Israel political violence, in part because it remains unclear what the perpetrator knew about his victims. 'My heart breaks for the loved ones of the victims of last night's attack in DC,' said Rashida Tlaib, a congresswoman who is Palestinian American. 'Nobody deserves such terrible violence. Everyone in our communities deserves to live in safety and in peace.' Trump offered condolences to the loved ones of the couple killed in the attack. 'These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!' he wrote on Truth Social. 'Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.' Jews in the US have said it is another example of the menace they are facing as people protest against the war. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania whose residence was the target of an antisemitic arson earlier this year, said he was 'heartbroken and horrified' by the attack. 'May their memories be a blessing and a call to action for each of us,' he wrote on social media. A writer in the conservative Jewish publication Commentary wrote that Jewish institutions would quickly work to increase security and that 'Jews will be arming ourselves'. Pape's surveys have tracked a growing acceptance of using violence to achieve political goals across the political spectrum. A poll he conducted in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League in spring 2023, before the Gaza war began, found that Americans who are highly antisemitic were three times more likely to support violence to achieve political aims than the general population. (The Anti-Defamation League is known for tracking antisemitism, but its methods have come under scrutiny for conflating antisemitism and anti-Zionism.) But the killings also show that the US is a 'tinderbox' and that political violence is a slippery slope, said Pape. People tend to compartmentalize political violence – if there's an act of violence against Jews, it's only a Jewish issue, the thinking goes, he said. But violence tends to beget more violence, and more acceptance of violence. His surveys in 2024 found increasing support for violence against Trump alongside support for violence in favor of Trump, stemming in part from a belief that the electoral and political systems won't address their grievances. 'The more political violence there is against Trump, the more there will be political violence against Democratic leaders like Josh Shapiro,' Pape said. 'The more there's political violence against Josh Shapiro, the more there will be antisemitic political violence. These are not compartmentalized issues.' Meanwhile, it's not only those in the Jewish and Palestinian communities who are being affected, but also those who have taken part in demonstrations associated with the war in Gaza. Police have used force against protesters on campuses and off, seeking to quash the mass movements that have sprung up around the globe. Thousands of students have been arrested, suspended, kicked out of colleges, lost financial aid, had their degrees withheld. Others who were in the US on visas have seen their immigration threatened and face deportation. The killings in Washington will probably lead to further crackdowns by the Trump administration on the pro-Palestinian cause. Pape's most recent survey, earlier this month, showed 39% of Democrats agreed that using force was justified to remove Trump from office and that only 44% of Republicans opposed Trump using the US military to stop protests. 'We can sleepwalk into martial law pretty easily,' Pape warned.
