18 Microsoft employee arrested as protest erupts over alleged use of company's tech by Israeli military
The protests, held for two consecutive days at the Redmond, Washington campus, came as Microsoft announced an 'urgent' review of how the Israeli military is using its technology.
But unlike Tuesday, when about 35 protesters occupying a plaza between office buildings left after Microsoft asked them to leave, the protesters on Wednesday 'resisted and became aggressive' after the company told police they were trespassing, according to the Redmond Police Department. They also splattered red paint resembling the colour of blood over a landmark sign that bears the company logo.
Police said, 'We said, Please leave or you will be arrested,' and they chose not to leave so they were detained,'
Microsoft, last week, said it had roped in a law firm to investigate claims reported by The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces relied on its Azure cloud platform to store phone call data gathered through mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
'Microsoft's standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage," the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises 'precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.'
In February, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the tech giant's close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, with military use of commercial artificial intelligence products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
The AP reported that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance, which can then be cross-checked with Israel's in-house AI-enabled targeting systems.
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