AhlulBayt News Agency: American technology giant Google was reportedly aware that a powerful cloud-computing tool it supplied to Israel under a contract four years ago could be used for rights violations against Palestinians.
A report by The Intercept on Monday revealed that internal Google documents showed the company feared it would be unable to prevent Israel from misusing its technology to harm Palestinians.
The report stated that Google understood how the structure of its Project Nimbus deal might deprive it of the ability to stop Israeli military and government entities from deploying the software against Palestinian civilians.
Furthermore, the tech giant knew that the multi-billion-dollar contract, awarded in 2021, would require it to block criminal investigations by other countries into Israel’s use of the technology.
Experts hired by Google had advised withholding machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools from Israel due to concerns about potential misuse, according to the report.
International law specialists told The Intercept that Google’s awareness of these risks could pose legal liability for the company.
“They’re aware of the risk that their products might be used for rights violations ... At the same time, they will have limited ability to identify and ultimately mitigate these risks,” said León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, a lawyer at the Asser Institute for International and European Law in The Hague.
The report comes amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands since its military invasion began in October 2023.
There have also been reports suggesting that Israel has used AI tools supplied by US technology firms to target and kill civilians in Gaza.
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