Microsoft employee disrupts 50th anniversary and calls AI boss ‘war profiteer’
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Can anyone ELI5 how they're using AI for genocide? I have awful IT skills so I don't understand AI
Here's her words on it
When I moved to AI Platform, I was excited to contribute to cutting-edge AI technology and its applications for the good of humanity: accessibility products, translation services, and tools to “empower every human and organization to achieve more.” I was not informed that Microsoft would sell my work to the Israeli military and government, with the purpose of spying on and murdering journalists, doctors, aid workers, and entire civilian families. If I knew my work on transcription scenarios would help spy on and transcribe phone calls to better target Palestinians (source), I would not have joined this organization and contributed to genocide. I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights.
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Microsoft isn't mentioned in the text, but the 3rd citation is a reference to Microsoft: Microsoft to Launch Much Awaited Cloud Server Farm in Israel in 2021
Separately, I did a quick search: Revealed: Microsoft deepened ties with Israeli military to provide tech support during Gaza war
In recent years, documents show, Microsoft has also provided the Israeli military with large-scale access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 model – the engine behind ChatGPT – thanks to a partnership with the developer of the AI tools which recently changed its policies against working with military and intelligence clients.
Thanks. Not doubting, but it's good to have detailed sources.
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In long.
In short:
The AI system labeled tens of thousands of Gazans, mostly men, as suspected militants, with a 10% error rate, meaning thousands were likely civilians.
Human officers spent ~20 seconds per target, often just confirming gender, before approving airstrikes.
"Where’s Daddy?": A companion AI tracked targets to their homes, prioritizing bombings at night when families were present.
The military authorized 15–20 civilian deaths per low-ranking militant and 100+ for senior Hamas officials
Strikes frequently used unguided munitions, maximizing destruction and civilian harm
Officers admitted acting as "stamps" for AI decisions, with one calling the process "hunting at large"
Additional informations: Project Nimbus
When families were present??? That's indefensible. It's not just the children in the home, it's all the neighbours kids, visitors and passers by. It's inhumane.
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A Microsoft employee disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event to protest its use of AI.
“Shame on you,” said Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad, speaking directly to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.”
Sources at Microsoft tell The Verge that shortly after Aboussad was ushered out of Microsoft’s event, she sent an email to a number of email distribution lists that contain hundreds or thousands of Microsoft employees. Here is Aboussad’s email in full:
Reading some comments here, I want to leave a gentle reminder to my fellow redditfugees: the block user option is your friend. Curate your feed or get fed.
When you see an aggressively oppositional account dropping shittastic hot takes, of course you can always engage and Have The Conversation if you want. You know what happens after you reply: the person likely leaves a bot to mess with your good intentions, raise your blood pressure, make you depressed and waste your time. Or maybe you successfully Prove Them Wrong and they change the goalposts, or wander off to needle someone else.
We know by now, the more we engage, the more online space they get to fill with accelerationist Content.
So just click the account name, then click the block button, and you'll never see their viral brainrot again. Nobody needs to know; no need to announce it. If your freezepeach philosophy prevents that, maybe just upvote one of the replies you agree with and move on. If you're on mobile, you can tag the account through Voyager etc instead of blocking, if you prefer.
However you manage it, removing doomscroller ragebait from your Feed is worth doing.
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A Microsoft employee disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event to protest its use of AI.
“Shame on you,” said Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad, speaking directly to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.”
Sources at Microsoft tell The Verge that shortly after Aboussad was ushered out of Microsoft’s event, she sent an email to a number of email distribution lists that contain hundreds or thousands of Microsoft employees. Here is Aboussad’s email in full:
Microsoft will sell US citizens out in a second when the government tells them to. They will use their AI to round us up without batting an eye. They can not be trusted anymore.
Microsoft is now a threat to democracy and human existence. They are already working against us with governments. This is the tipping point that no one will hear about.
There is too much at stake and they are too big to fail. The government will viciously take down anyone spreading the truth. Continuing to support Microsoft is now a death sentence to democracy.
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Microsoft will sell US citizens out in a second when the government tells them to. They will use their AI to round us up without batting an eye. They can not be trusted anymore.
Microsoft is now a threat to democracy and human existence. They are already working against us with governments. This is the tipping point that no one will hear about.
There is too much at stake and they are too big to fail. The government will viciously take down anyone spreading the truth. Continuing to support Microsoft is now a death sentence to democracy.
Username checks out.
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If hamas don't play fair, why should Israel?
seek help -
Lmao. These are crazy billionaire pipe dreams.
Humans survive through community. Their wealth doesn’t mean shit.
"Humans survive through community": I agree with this but this is not an eternal truth. What that community looks like and consists of have always changed. Community has meant a group of people we hunted together in a jungle, our neighbors, and now more and more people you hang out online, a mixture of these or other groups etc. I can't see any reason why a community can't be a group of artificially intelligent robots in the near future.
"Their wealth doesn’t mean shit": This is a take that is idealistic at best and juvenile at worst. It also reads like an oxymoron. "Wealth" "doesn't mean shit". Wealth means everything in many of the world's societies, western ones especially so. -
That's a really long email.
Glad it wasn’t a slide deck. Had every opportunity to be.
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"Humans survive through community": I agree with this but this is not an eternal truth. What that community looks like and consists of have always changed. Community has meant a group of people we hunted together in a jungle, our neighbors, and now more and more people you hang out online, a mixture of these or other groups etc. I can't see any reason why a community can't be a group of artificially intelligent robots in the near future.
"Their wealth doesn’t mean shit": This is a take that is idealistic at best and juvenile at worst. It also reads like an oxymoron. "Wealth" "doesn't mean shit". Wealth means everything in many of the world's societies, western ones especially so.They will be killed by their own AI for being oppressive, wasteful and illogical far faster than humans have turned on them.
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A Microsoft employee disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event to protest its use of AI.
“Shame on you,” said Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad, speaking directly to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.”
Sources at Microsoft tell The Verge that shortly after Aboussad was ushered out of Microsoft’s event, she sent an email to a number of email distribution lists that contain hundreds or thousands of Microsoft employees. Here is Aboussad’s email in full:
Wow, this took guts. Ibtihal Aboussad calling out Mustafa Suleyman during Microsoft’s big 50th anniversary bash shows how deep the unease runs about AI’s military applications. Her point about Microsoft’s tech being used in conflicts—especially with the Israeli military—raises legit ethical questions. It’s wild to think a celebration of innovation got hijacked by a protest over ‘genocide’ and ‘war profiteering.’ What do you all think—should employees have a say in how their work gets used, or is this just grandstanding?
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The UN palestine workers (or at least some) were proven to be associated to hamas.
For the rest I need sources.
'Source for thee, but none for me' is an interesting rhetorical strategy. Let's see how it works out.
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Wow, this took guts. Ibtihal Aboussad calling out Mustafa Suleyman during Microsoft’s big 50th anniversary bash shows how deep the unease runs about AI’s military applications. Her point about Microsoft’s tech being used in conflicts—especially with the Israeli military—raises legit ethical questions. It’s wild to think a celebration of innovation got hijacked by a protest over ‘genocide’ and ‘war profiteering.’ What do you all think—should employees have a say in how their work gets used, or is this just grandstanding?
Good on them. The use of AI in military applications conveniently gets next to 0 coverage both in these type of events and also in the general news media.
Same with drone warfare. Which should terrify us all. Imagine a swarm of 30-50 drones with small explosives attacking some public event? Hell. Even jist a couple. Sadly. It will happen one day, sooner than we think.
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LinkedIn just deleted her profile, I was following her yesterday: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibtihalaboussad
Or she set it to private because she was overwhelmed with the messages she was getting.
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Braver than the troops
that woman has more balls than half the fucking country. I sure wish she won't get fired or worse for telling the truth of what's happening.
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'Source for thee, but none for me' is an interesting rhetorical strategy. Let's see how it works out.
Just google that shit bruv
The UN even admitted to it and kicked out some of their workers
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seek help
Seek solutions instead of complaining
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I mean, it's not like there wasn't a technically-still-binding treaty for a 2-state solution, which would still be a working compromise for both sides (even though Israel would, by now, have to become Germany 2.0 in terms of self-awareness and lasting change to be even remotely trusted by its neighbors)… which gets completely ignored and pissed on by Israel…
You'd basically need to de-nazify Israel and occupy it by some benevolent, nation building world police. Show the horror in documentaries, re-educate, rebuild the democratic institutions like news and social media. Obviously a pipe dream.
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Just google that shit bruv
The UN even admitted to it and kicked out some of their workers
What the fuck are you on about? I'm commenting on your demand for sources while also providing none for numerous claims. Interesting strategy. You must have studied Plato.
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What the fuck are you on about? I'm commenting on your demand for sources while also providing none for numerous claims. Interesting strategy. You must have studied Plato.
As I've said all my previous efforts have beeen dismissed without even a hunch of an argument so google that shit yourself. It's not like this stuff is difficult to find. Here's a tip: it's on the UN's website
