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:
They are giving it away for free, which according to you is morally better than selling it? So if I make the AI, make it open source and somebody uses it to blow up kids I’m good. But if I sell it I’m evil?
I get your point. But Microsoft knows exactly who is using their cloud and why (id proof and industry), vs something for everyone to grab (LF doesnt require id proof and industry). Microsoft is knowingly serving child murderers and it knows their tech is used to do exactly that.
You cannot ban kitchen knives because there were a mass stab, but you enforce strict background check so you dont sell rifles to school shooters.
In other words, impossible to enforce linux ban without removing the open source aspect of it and affect good people like, but totally possible just not serve somebody commiting a genocide.
This is an important distinction, and one I wasn’t aware of, that Microsoft know exactly who, where and when the AI is being used, and what exactly it is being used for: the genocide of Palestinians. And who knows what other genocides will follow.