Latest news with #AICodeofConduct
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘Free Palestine!': Microsoft employee interrupts Satya Nadella's speech at Seattle conference
A Microsoft employee allegedly disrupted the company's Build developer conference in Seattle, Washington, while protesting against the company's cloud and AI contracts with the Israeli government. Protesters interrupted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's speech on the stage, with one shouting 'Free Palestine!' While the protesters were escorted out of a hall inside the Seattle conference center, Nadella continued to speak, ignoring their attempt to interrupt. A post shared by No Azure for Apartheid (@noazureforapartheid) One of the protesters who interrupted Nadella was Microsoft employee Joe Lopez. He was joined by a fired Google employee who was involved in last year's sit-in protests against Google's cloud contract with Israel, The Verge reported. For the past four years, Lopez has been working as a firmware engineer on the company's Azure hardware systems team. Shortly after interrupting Nadella, he wrote an email to thousands of Microsoft employees, expressing how 'shocked' he was 'by the silence of our leadership,' just days after Microsoft responded to employee protests by claiming there was no evidence to suggest that its Azure and AI tech has harmed people in Gaza. 'Leadership rejects our claims that Azure technology is being used to target or harm civilians in Gaza,' Lopez wrote in his email. 'Those of us who have been paying attention know that this is a bold-faced lie. Every byte of data that is stored on the cloud (much of it likely containing data obtained by illegal mass surveillance) can and will be used as justification to level cities and exterminate Palestinians.' After conducting an internal review, Microsoft said that its relationship with the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) is 'structured as a standard commercial relationship,' and that it has 'found no evidence that Microsoft's Azure and AI technologies, or any of our other software, have been used to harm people or that IMOD has failed to comply with our terms of service or our AI Code of Conduct.' The protest was organized byNo Azure for Apartheid, a group of Microsoft employees speaking up against the company's contracts with the Israeli government. On its website, it says, 'Join the growing No Tech for Apartheid movement and demand that Microsoft live up to its own purported ethical values—by ending its direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide. Join us, alongside students, teachers, activists, cultural workers, healthcare workers, and trade unions, alongside the International Court of Justice, alongside ordinary people in the streets and Palestinians worldwide, in building a new future where Palestine is free.' The company's latest statement was criticised by Hossam Nasr, an organizer of No Azure for Apartheid and a former Microsoft employee. He was reportedly fired after he held a vigil outside Microsoft's headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza. 'In one breath, they claim that their technology is not being used to harm people in Gaza, while also admitting they don't have insight into how their technologies are being used,' said Nasr. 'It's very clear that their intention with this statement is not to actually address their worker concerns, but rather to make a PR stunt to whitewash their image that has been tarnished by their relationship with the Israeli military.'
United News of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- United News of India
Microsoft denies misuse of AI, Azure in Gaza conflict
Washington, May 17 (UNI) Responding to growing concerns among employees and the public, Microsoft Corporation has stated that it found no evidence its Azure cloud or artificial intelligence technologies were used by the Israeli military to target civilians or cause harm in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. In a statement released after an internal review and an external fact-finding process, the tech giant said it had interviewed dozens of employees and assessed relevant documents, concluding that none of its technologies were used to inflict harm during the hostilities. "Microsoft works with countries and customers around the world, including the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD), under a standard commercial relationship," the company said, adding that the terms of its services are governed by a strict Acceptable Use Policy and AI Code of Conduct. These guidelines prohibit the use of its cloud and AI services in any manner that inflicts harm or contravenes legal standards. The company clarified that its services to the IMOD include software, professional support, Azure cloud services, and AI-powered language translation tools. It emphasised that Microsoft has not provided any bespoke surveillance or operational software typically used in military applications. "We do not have visibility into how customers use our software on their own premises or servers, nor do we have access to IMOD's government cloud operations, which are supported through contracts with providers other than Microsoft,' the company noted. Microsoft acknowledged that it had extended limited emergency support to the Israeli government in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks to assist in hostage rescue efforts. "This help was provided with significant oversight, and not all requests were approved," it said. Underscoring its broader commitment, Microsoft reaffirmed its support for cybersecurity in Israel and humanitarian assistance across both Israel and Gaza. "Our work is informed and governed by our Human Rights Commitments. Based on everything we currently know, we believe Microsoft has abided by these commitments in Israel and Gaza," the company stated. UNI BDN RN
