Technology

The protest is also about computational resources, tech support hours, and not just source code. Anyone could download an open-source state-of-the-art multi-petabyte model given enough bandwidth and time, but not just anyone can run it

Although the documents do not specify how the different army units use these cloud storage and AI tools, they do indicate that about a third of the purchases were intended for “air-gapped” systems that are isolated from the internet and public networks, strengthening the possibility that the tools have been used for operational purposes — such as combat and intelligence — as opposed to simply logistical or bureaucratic functions. Indeed, two sources in Unit 8200 confirmed that the Military Intelligence Directorate purchased storage and AI services from Microsoft Azure for intelligence-gathering activities, and three other sources in the unit confirmed that similar services were purchased from Amazon’s cloud computing platform, AWS.

The documents further show that Microsoft personnel work closely with units in the Israeli army to develop products and systems. Dozens of units have purchased “extended engineering services” from Microsoft, in which, according to the company’s website, “Microsoft experts become an integral part of the [customer’s] team.”

The documents describe, for example, that in recent years the Military Intelligence Directorate has purchased private development meetings and professional workshops, which Microsoft’s experts have given to soldiers at a cost of millions of dollars. Between October 2023 and June 2024 alone, the Israeli Defense Ministry spent $10 million to purchase 19,000 hours of engineering support from Microsoft.
An intelligence officer who served in a technological role in Unit 8200 in recent years, and worked directly with Microsoft Azure employees before October 7 to develop a surveillance system used to monitor Palestinians, told +972 and Local Call that the company’s developers became so embedded that he referred to them as “people who are already working with the unit,” as if they were soldiers.

Source: https://www.972mag.com/microsoft-azure-openai-israeli-army-cloud/