American tech companies are deeply intertwined in Israel’s military operations, with investments and partnerships expanding significantly since the start of the war in Gaza, which to date has killed nearly 50,000 people, with some estimates placing that number closer to 400,000. Newly surfaced data indicates that collaboration between the Israeli government and U.S. companies has intensified. Yet, most Americans remain unaware of how these companies are involved—or how it could affect them.
Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in warfare isn’t new. In May 2021, during an 11-day assault on Gaza, the Israeli military described the campaign as “the world’s first AI war.” The offensive relied on targeting programs developed by Unit 8200, Israel’s elite intelligence division. Among them were “Gospel” and “Alchemist,” AI-driven systems designed to analyze vast amounts of data and rapidly select targets.
These tools didn’t disappear after the ceasefire. Instead, they were refined and enhanced. By October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its latest assault, these AI-driven targeting programs had become central to its military strategy. By its own admission, the Israeli military had depended upon commercial AI technology before developing its own AI programs. This technology came from various American companies that began developing deeper ties to the Israeli army.
Although Israel’s highly classified AI systems are often portrayed as the product of its own intelligence apparatus, recent reporting by the Associated Press suggests a more complex reality. According to the investigation, Israel’s military dramatically increased its reliance on commercial AI technologies after launching its latest assault on Gaza. Among the most notable findings, Microsoft and OpenAI tools were reportedly used to assist in battlefield decision-making. The extent of their involvement remains unclear, but they appear to have played a role in processing intelligence, analyzing surveillance data, and even informing targeting decisions.
JULIAN ASSANGE: ‘Artificial intelligence is being used for mass assassinations in Gaza’
“The majority of targets in Gaza are bombed as a result of artificial intelligence targeting.”
The US, UK, EU and Israel have created an AI dystopia. https://t.co/o27GVIoxwZ pic.twitter.com/Ohfm5HEQ4s
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) November 14, 2024
“The implications are enormous for the role of tech in enabling this type of unethical and unlawful warfare going forward,” said Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute and a former senior safety engineer at OpenAI.
Collaboration between the Israeli military and US big tech is in no way limited to only a handful of companies but extends from tech giants all the way down to smaller private security firms. The Washington Post revealed recently that Google rushed to sell AI tools to Israel in October of 2023.
Meanwhile, Oracle, one of the largest U.S. tech firms, pledged to double its investments in Israel just as the Gaza offensive escalated. The company’s CEO, Safra Catz, an Israeli-American billionaire, put her loyalty to Israel on full display when she traveled to Tel Aviv in the early days of the assault to meet with key figures in the country’s government and military sector.
Catz is a well-connected political figure in the United States. A major donor to Donald Trump, she also contributed to the current U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. In 2018, she was even shortlisted for the role of National Security Advisor, though she ultimately remained on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI)—a role that positions her at the nexus of U.S. tech, intelligence, and military strategy.
Despite knowing that much of the AI technology used by the Israeli military carries a false-positive rate of roughly 10%, the system remains a key tool in determining who lives and who dies. Israel has long treated Gaza as a testing ground for its military technology, raising serious concerns about how these tools could eventually be deployed elsewhere—including against American citizens.
The integration of AI into Israeli warfare has not gone unnoticed by the very workers who build the systems. Both Google and Amazon faced internal revolts after signing a $1.2 billion contract with Israel for “Project Nimbus,” a program that leverages cloud computing and artificial intelligence to enhance surveillance and targeting capabilities. Employees at both companies protested, warning that their work was being used to enable human rights abuses—concerns that executives ignored.
Googles *Project Nimbus* is a $1.2B deal to Israel using artificial intelligence to target homes…
The technology was used to target a home that just killed 2 adults and 18 CHILDREN…
Google employees who were aware of the cloud technologies used by Israel in its genocide on… pic.twitter.com/13lQGUTySx
— Pelham (@Resist_05) April 24, 2024
One of the most unsettling aspects of Project Nimbus was the sale of sentiment analysis technology for military use. Not long after, an Israeli company introduced its “Smart Shooter” system in the West Bank, mounting AI-powered turrets on checkpoints and military vehicles. According to the company, these turrets could analyze a person’s behavior to determine whether they were likely to commit violence—potentially opening fire based on that assessment alone.
While many US citizens may hold concern for Palestinians who are being targeted with the help of AI systems and technology made available by major US tech giants, they may not know that the testing grounds in Gaza often aid in repression at home.
Google and Amazon, for example, have aggressively pursued contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and state and local police departments. These major companies are also heavily tied to the government. This problem continues to grow under the Trump administration, which announced a 500 billion taxpayer dollar investment in an AI infrastructure program called “Stargate,” a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank. The project’s stated goal is to bolster national security and streamline data processing, but critics warn that it could also lead to widespread surveillance.
Feature photo | Tech workers from Google, Meta and Amazon protest against Big Tech supplying Israel with intelligence tools outside Google offices in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY, April 16, 2024. Cristina Matuozzi | AP
Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47
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