Israeli military creating ChatGPT-like tool using vast collection of Palestinian surveillance data

The powerful new AI model is designed to analyze intercepted communications – but experts say such systems can exacerbate biases and are prone to making mistakes

The efforts to build the large language model (LLM) were partially revealed in a public talk by a former military intelligence technologist who said he oversaw the project. File picture: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Israel’s military surveillance agency has used a vast collection of intercepted Palestinian communications to build a powerful artificial intelligence tool similar to ChatGPT that it hopes will transform its spying capabilities, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.

The joint investigation with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found Unit 8200 trained the AI model to understand spoken Arabic using large volumes of telephone conversations and text messages, obtained through its extensive surveillance of the occupied territories.