Final month, we reported on Ibtihal Aboussad, the Microsoft software program engineer who publicly confronted Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman in the course of the firm’s fiftieth anniversary occasion. The worker was later fired, alongside one other protesting worker (Vaniya Agrawal). Their actions have been a part of rising inside dissent, notably from the “No Azure for Apartheid” group, over Microsoft’s contracts with the Israeli navy amid the battle in Gaza. Now, Microsoft has come out with a press release, basically saying it has seemed into it and located nothing.

In a current announcement, the corporate said that following worker and public considerations, it carried out an inside overview and employed an exterior agency for extra reality discovering.

Primarily based on these critiques, together with interviewing dozens of workers and assessing paperwork, we’ve discovered no proof to this point that Microsoft’s Azure and AI applied sciences have been used to focus on or hurt folks within the battle in Gaza.

Microsoft confirmed its ongoing business relationship with the Israel Ministry of Protection (IMOD), offering software program, Azure cloud providers, and Azure AI providers, together with for language translation. The corporate insists it is a normal business relationship, certain by its phrases of service, which prohibit utilizing its tech to inflict hurt. Microsoft additionally talked about offering “restricted emergency assist to the Israeli authorities within the weeks following October 7, 2023, to assist rescue hostages,” claiming this was completed with important oversight.

Nevertheless, the announcement features a somewhat massive caveat. In direction of the tip of its assertion, the corporate just about admits it has no method of realizing what prospects, together with the IMOD, do with Microsoft software program whether it is run on their very own servers or by different cloud suppliers.

It is very important acknowledge that Microsoft doesn’t have visibility into how prospects use our software program on their very own servers or different units. That is usually the case for on premise software program. Nor do we’ve visibility to the IMOD’s authorities cloud operations, that are supported by contracts with cloud suppliers apart from Microsoft. By definition, our critiques don’t cowl these conditions.

The corporate concluded its assertion by reiterating a dedication to human rights and assist for humanitarian help in each Israel and Gaza.