内容摘要：A collection of older fossils from early human ancestors was

A collection of older fossils from early human ancestors was

revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant’s close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with military use of commercial AI products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The AP reported that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance, which can then be cross-checked with Israel’s in-house AI-enabled targeting systems and vice versa.The partnership reflects a growing drive by tech companies to sell their artificial intelligence products to militaries for a wide range of uses, including in Israel, Ukraine and the United States. However, human rights groups have raised concerns that AI systems, which can be flawed and prone to errors, are being used to help make decisions about who or what to target, resulting in the deaths of innocent people.

Microsoft said Thursday that employee concerns and media reports had prompted the company to launch an internal review and hire an external firm to undertake “additional fact-finding.” The statement did not identify the outside firm or provide a copy of its report.The statement also did not directly address several questions about precisely how the Israeli military is using its technologies, and the company declined Friday to comment further. Microsoft declined to answer written questions from The AP about how its AI models helped translate, sort and analyze intelligence used by the military to select targets for airstrikes.The company’s statement said it had provided the Israeli military with software, professional services, Azure cloud storage and Azure AI services, including language translation, and had worked with the Israeli government to protect its national cyberspace against external threats. Microsoft said it had also provided “special access to our technologies beyond the terms of our commercial agreements” and “limited emergency support” to Israel as part of the effort to help rescue the more than 250 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.

“We provided this help with significant oversight and on a limited basis, including approval of some requests and denial of others,” Microsoft said. “We believe the company followed its principles on a considered and careful basis, to help save the lives of hostages while also honoring the privacy and other rights of civilians in Gaza.”Contact AP’s global investigative team at

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The company did not answer whether it or the outside firm it hired communicated or consulted with the Israeli military as part of its internal probe. It also did not respond to requests for additional details about the special assistance it provided to the Israeli military to recover hostages or the specific steps to safeguard the rights and privacy of Palestinians.Sudarto lays on the bed in his flooded home, stepping into water to walk out on to the terrace. On the wall are water lines, some up to 30 centimeters (1 foot) that show how high the floods have gotten in his already-elevated home.

Turiah, his adult daughter, lives in the home with him. Born with a physical disability that prevents her from walking, she spends her days sitting in the home’s front window on an elevated wooden platform.Like many homes in the village, the windows are partially immersed in the sea water that is a permanent fixture inside. In some areas, barnacles and mold rings cling to the walls. Personal items, such as a refrigerator, clothes and an old clock, are kept on wooden platforms elevated above the water from the rising sea level.

Mar’iah sits outside her house while waiting for the flood water to subside in Timbulsloko, Central Java, Indonesia, Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Mar’iah sits outside her house while waiting for the flood water to subside in Timbulsloko, Central Java, Indonesia, Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)