Google Provides Advanced AI Tools Including Vertex and Gemini to Israeli Military Amid Israel-Hamas War

Jan 22, 2025, 08:00 AM

Google has been providing Israel's military with access to its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies since the early weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The tech giant's employees worked to expedite requests from Israel's Defense Ministry for increased access to AI tools, including the Vertex platform, which allows clients to apply AI algorithms to their data. This assistance came despite Google's public stance to distance itself from military uses of its technology, following employee protests over the company's cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. The documents reveal that Google's involvement included providing access to its Gemini AI technology, which the Israeli military sought to develop an AI assistant for processing documents and audio. Google's actions were motivated by concerns that failure to provide access could lead Israel to turn to competitor Amazon, also a partner in the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus contract. The Israeli military has been using AI to enhance its capabilities, including through an internally developed tool called Habsora, which helps in targeting decisions. Google's collaboration with Israel's military has faced internal dissent, with the company firing 50 employees last year who protested against the Project Nimbus contract, citing potential human rights violations.