IDF significantly increases reliance on cloud services, AI provided by Microsoft, OpenAI
Date
1/27/2025 6:25:24 AM
(MENAFN) Since October 7, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have significantly increased their reliance on cloud services and artificial intelligence provided by Microsoft and its partner OpenAI, with employees from both companies working alongside various military units, according to an investigation. Microsoft has established a substantial presence within Israel's military infrastructure, with the sales of its cloud and AI services to the IDF soaring since the start of the Gaza offensive, based on leaked trade documents from Israel’s Defense Ministry and files from Microsoft's Israeli branch. The documents indicate that numerous IDF units, including those in the air, land, naval forces, and the elite intelligence unit, Unit 8200, have purchased services from Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. In addition, the IDF has gained access to OpenAI's GPT-4 language model, which powers the ChatGPT app, due to the close collaboration between the two tech giants.
The investigation, carried out by 972+ magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian, also relies on documents obtained by Drop Site News. It sheds light on how the Israeli military increasingly depended on civilian tech companies after the escalation in Gaza on October 7, 2023. This revelation comes amid protests from tech employees concerned that their work may have contributed to potential war crimes. IDF units using Microsoft's Azure services include the Air Force's OVIC unit, responsible for managing airstrike target databases; the Matspin Unit, developing combat systems; and the Sapir Unit, which handles military intelligence infrastructure. Additionally, the Israeli military prosecutor’s office, which prosecutes Palestinians, also uses Azure services.
The investigation also points out that Unit 81, a technological branch of the Military Intelligence Directorate, relies on Azure to support its surveillance operations. The Rolling Stone system, used for managing Palestinian population and movement registries in Gaza and the West Bank, is also maintained by Microsoft Azure. AI services purchased by Israel's Ministry of Defense from Microsoft include translation tools, OpenAI's GPT-4, speech-to-text capabilities, and automatic document analysis tools. The IDF's usage of Azure’s AI services saw a sharp increase in October 2023, seven times higher than the previous month, with a 64-fold increase by March 2024.
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