US-made AI empowers Israel’s warfare

US tech giants have empowered Israel to track and kill in Gaza, raising fears that AI is contributing to the deaths of innocent people

Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the US have been used in active warfare.

American tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in AI and computing services. However, the number of civilians killed has also soared, fuelling fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.

Militaries have for years hired private companies to build custom autonomous weapons. However, Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the US have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed to help to decide who lives and who dies.