Israel is reportedly storing millions of Palestinian phone calls on Microsoft servers
Company CEO Satya Nadella allegedly okayed the effort personally after meeting with a commander from Israel's military surveillance agency, Unit 8200. He reportedly gave the country a customized and segregated area within the Azure platform to store millions of phone calls made each day without knowledge or consent from Palestinians.
According to sources within Unit 8200, these recordings have assisted in the preparation of deadly airstrikes and helped shape military operations throughout the region. Israel has long been intercepting calls in the occupied territories, as it basically controls the entire Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure .
This new method, however, reportedly captures the conversations of a large pool of regular civilians. The mantra when building out the project was to record "a million calls an hour." Leaked Microsoft files suggest that the lion's share of this data is being stored in Azure facilities in the Netherlands and Ireland.
Microsoft has been facing increased scrutiny regarding its role in Israel's 22-month offensive in Gaza. CEO Nadella was interrupted by an employee at a keynote speech in May, with the worker pleading for the executive to "show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure."
Earlier this year, the company commissioned an external review that "found no evidence to date' that Azure or its AI products were "used to target or harm people" in the territory. Today's reporting suggests otherwise. Unit 8200 sources indicate that intelligence drawn from this data was used to identify bombing targets. Microsoft says it has "no information" about the kind of data stored by Israel on its servers.
'At no time during this engagement,' a company representative added, 'has Microsoft been aware of the surveillance of civilians or collection of their cellphone conversations using Microsoft's services, including through the external review it commissioned.' Sources say that usage of the surveillance system increased during the campaign in Gaza. So far, 60,000 people in the territory have been killed , including over 18,000 children.
Microsoft isn't the only company that has been accused of assisting Israel in what many are calling a genocide in Gaza . A report recently found that Google employees have repeatedly worked with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel's Defense Ministry (IDM) to expand the government's access to AI tools.
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
33 minutes ago
- CBS News
Former site of Springdale power plant could become high-tech AI data center
The former site of the Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale could soon become the home of Allegheny County's first high-tech hyperscale artificial intelligence data center, allowing it to support companies like Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. Community members and leaders gathered at the borough building in Springdale on Wednesday night to hear developers share preliminary details about the project and answer questions. The project would likely provide 80 to 100 permanent jobs, developer Brian Regli said. It would likely use 180 megawatts of energy, the equivalent of 20% of what the old Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, he said. One neighbor shared that an economic analysis should be conducted for ratepayers. "I wonder how their electricity bills are gonna change, how their water bills will change with all this additional demand," one man shared. "Power is a significant issue," Regli said. "I don't want to come to this table and deny that." It's a problem that can be solved if everyone works together, he said. "What we're presenting to you today is an opportunity to bring some of the most advanced technology, some of the largest investments in this particular zone, into this community of Springdale Borough," Regli said. After an initial draw of water from a municipal water source, not the river, the data center would reuse water for cooling. Officials have not decided on where they would get the power for the center, but the variety of options in western Pennsylvania is a reason why locating a data center here is attractive, the developer said. Neighbors also raised concerns about noise and light pollution. Noise would be kept within local set standards, a member of the developer's team said. Much of the data center would not be seen from the street because of existing trees, which would remain, the developer said. Asked about the potential for negative health impacts, Regli said he knew of none. While the 80 to 100 jobs created are not as many as other uses, there would be fewer impacts to the community because it is a data center, he said. "You're not talking about something that necessarily needs an advanced degree. You're talking about somebody who has strong mechanical skills, who knows how to build things," Regli said. "And frankly, there are a lot of people in western Pennsylvania that know how to build things."
Bloomberg
33 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
How Rich Countries Can Build Nuclear Power Cheaply Again
Electricity demand is booming, and it's not just because of artificial intelligence. So much so that many are ready to revisit the idea of nuclear power. Microsoft signed a $16 billion deal to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power their data centres for the next 20 years. But developed countries haven't built more than a handful of new reactors in decades. When they have tried, the cost of those nuclear plants and the time to build them has been extraordinary. Will this renewed interest yield different results?
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why nuclear is the center of the stock market's energy trade in 2025
Nuclear energy stocks have been on a tear in 2025. Shares in the space are far outpacing peers in the broader energy sector. AI and support from the Trump White House are big tailwinds for nuclear. Nuclear energy stocks got a big boost this week after US Transportation Secretary and interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy announced plans to expedite a nuclear reactor on the moon. The comments sent stocks such as Oklo, Nucor and Nano Nuclear Energy jumping, with the gains extending into Wednesday's session. But it's more than seemingly one-off comments that's boosting nuclear stocks this year, and the alternative power source has become the hottest energy trade out there in 2025. Nuclear power has come sharply into focus in recent years, with advocates including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and, more recently, the Trump White House. A quick look at the energy sector reveals that nuclear energy is outpacing its peers. The VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) is up almost 50% year-to-date, compared to the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 13%, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which is down about 1% this year. Nuclear energy is riding the AI wave It's hard to examine the growth of nuclear energy stocks in 2025 without talking about the role of nuclear in the AI boom. AI demand has continued to skyrocket as companies have doubled down on capex plans in the space. Dizzying demand for data centers has created an equally enormous need for power. Goldman Sachs predicts that data center power demand will increase 165% by 2030. That's sparked a search for alternative power sources to support the continued growth of data centers and AI. "It was easy and fast to reactivate nuclear reactors to meet the growing demand for clean energy from data centers," said Alexander Lis, chief investment officer at Social Discovery Ventures. "Other energy sources were either less clean, like coal, or longer to build, like wind or solar." Lis added that his firm considers this demand to be sustainable, as "many big tech companies have already announced their plans to use nuclear energy for their data centers." Last September, Constellation Energy said it would reopen Three Mile Island, with Microsoft set to purchase the power power generated by the site. Eric Schiffer, chairman and CEO of The Patriarch Organization and a nuclear energy investor, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the role that it may play in helping the US achieve AI dominance. "China [is] far more equipped right now from an energy platform perspective," he stated. "Nuclear is a critical piece to ensure we're staying at pace. You can't lose this race over an energy constraint." An under-the-radar Trump trade Schiffer and others believe that Trump's focus on AI will benefit nuclear energy stocks in the near term. "The Trump administration's policy priorities to support AI advancement and the unleashing of American innovation has been centered around a deregulation focus and a markets-driven all-of-the-above energy strategy," said Jeff Le, managing principal at consulting firm 100 Mile Strategies. "It includes an audacious goal of quadrupling US nuclear energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2050." Le added that Trump's recent executive orders put "nuclear reactor licensing, fuel reprocessing, and domestic production, at the top of its 'Energy Dominance' agenda." The cumulative effect of already soaring demand for power from AI and Trump's turn away from renewables in the search for alternative power sources means nuclear has been a big winner this year. Importantly for investors, Schiffer thinks this bullish period will continue for another 18 months or so. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
