this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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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:

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[–] merdaverse@lemmy.world 57 points 20 hours ago

It takes massive courage to give up a cozy job at Microsoft and potentially damage your entire career to stand up for your values this way. Props to her!

[–] StopTouchingYourPhone@lemmy.world 26 points 19 hours ago

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.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Username checks out.

[–] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 116 points 1 day ago (8 children)

LinkedIn just deleted her profile, I was following her yesterday: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibtihalaboussad

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 14 hours ago

Or she set it to private because she was overwhelmed with the messages she was getting.

[–] anachrohack@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

You're sure she didn't delete it herself due to the attention she was probably getting?

[–] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 11 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Of course they're not sure. This is an internet forum. The account being gone must mean it was deleted. Honestly, she was probably getting so much bat shit crazy messages, she deleted it herself. That makes the most sense.

3rd citation is a reference to Micro

Could be she set it to private. It's what I did when I left my last gig.

[–] burak@lemmy.ml 67 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It’s crazy how democracy is now implicitly democracy incorporated(TM) where individuals are silenced for expressing opinions about corporations. Vital institutions for a functioning democracy like media is now owned by big corporations, worse yet, in an increasingly monopolized way, blurring the lines between unelected corporations and elected government (who are also bought by corporations after or before they are elected)

[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Goes to prove that LinkedIn is just exactly like every other social media platform despite what many people seem to believe.

[–] Nexz@feddit.nl 46 points 1 day ago

Also, Microsoft owns LinkedIn so that might have something to do with it.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 day ago

LinkedIn as in the website owned by Microsoft? You don't say!

And Microsoft will now just make sure she vant find a job anywhere? You don't say

[–] tarius@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 day ago

Makes sense its owned by MS

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[–] Antonbl@lemmy.world 159 points 1 day ago

This is such a bold move. Takes courage to speak up from the inside, especially at an event like that. Whether people agree or not, the conversation about the ethics of AI and its real-world consequences needs to happen.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago

Ballsy move. I hope she's okay.

[–] alecbowles@lemm.ee 36 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What a hero! I hope she is alright.

[–] GreyAlien@lemm.ee 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

She doubled down on video, showing no fear of consequences.

Hero is unquestionably the right word.

[–] Jhuskindle@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago

She is SO BRAVE. Wow. I wish I had half that strength.

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 46 points 1 day ago (12 children)

Can anyone ELI5 how they're using AI for genocide? I have awful IT skills so I don't understand AI

[–] DrDeadCrash@programming.dev 20 points 19 hours ago

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.

[–] GreyAlien@lemm.ee 93 points 1 day ago (5 children)

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

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 15 points 21 hours ago

That is seriously dystopian. Wow, what the fuck..

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 6 points 19 hours ago

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.

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Google and Amazon are mentioned in the Wikipedia article but not Microsoft.

Not defending them, just asking for better evidence.

[–] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Thanks. Not doubting, but it's good to have detailed sources.

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Holy fuck!

That's fucking awful!

[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 23 points 1 day ago

this is comedically evil I don't even know what to say

[–] tauren@lemm.ee 38 points 1 day ago (1 children)

From the article:

The Israeli military uses Microsoft Azure to compile information gathered through mass surveillance, which it transcribes and translates, including phone calls, texts and audio messages, according to an Israeli intelligence officer who works with the systems.

From my understanding, they use AI to automate the processing of text, audio, and video data collected by the intelligence services.

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