Microsoft cuts off Israel's military from its cloud services
Microsoft just cut off Israel's Unit 8200—a top military intelligence group—from its cloud and AI services.
Why? Investigations found the unit was using Microsoft's Azure to store and analyze millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls from Gaza and the West Bank, with their system able to process up to a million calls per hour.
At least 8,000TB of this data ended up in Microsoft data centers—including some in Europe.
Microsoft ends 3 years of tech-fueled surveillance
After an external review confirmed this broke Microsoft's ban on mass civilian surveillance, President Brad Smith informed staff they've disabled Unit 8200's access but will keep other business ties with Israel's military.
This move ends three years of tech-fueled surveillance tied to conflict in Gaza—raising big questions about where sensitive data gets stored and how much responsibility tech giants have when their tools are used in real-world conflicts.