Hacker News with Generative AI: Israel

Microsoft Bans the Word "Palestine" in Internal Emails (dropsitenews.com)
Microsoft has quietly implemented a policy blocking employee emails containing the words “Palestine,” “Gaza,” or “genocide” on its internal Exchange servers, according to No Azure for Apartheid, a group of pro-Palestine Microsoft employees.

Microsoft, Censorship, Palestine, Israel, Employees

10 points by suraci 1 day ago | 3 comments

DDoSecrets publishes 410 GB of heap dumps, hacked from TeleMessage (micahflee.com)
This morning, Distributed Denial of Secrets published 410 GB of data hacked from TeleMessage, the Israeli firm that makes modified versions of Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat that centrally archive messages. Because the data is sensitive and full of PII, DDoSecrets is only sharing it with journalists and researchers.

Data Leaks, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Journalism, Israel

663 points by micahflee 4 days ago | 185 comments

Google worried it couldn't control how Israel uses Project Nimbus, files reveal (theintercept.com)
Before signing its lucrative and controversial Project Nimbus deal with Israel, Google knew it couldn’t control what the nation and its military would do with the powerful cloud-computing technology, a confidential internal report obtained by The Intercept reveals.

Cloud Computing, Google, Israel, Government, Military

69 points by zhengiszen 7 days ago | 20 comments

Microsoft conducts audit in Israeli use of Azure/AI, finds no harm to Gazans (theverge.com)
Microsoft says it has found no evidence that the Israeli military has used its Azure and AI technology to harm Palestinian civilians or anyone else in Gaza.

Microsoft, Azure, AI, Israel, Gaza

9 points by bhouston 7 days ago | 5 comments

ADL Pushes Google to Reject Review of Israeli Human Rights Abuses (gizmodo.com)
The Anti-Defamation League is lobbying Alphabet, the parent company of Google, to vote down a shareholder proposal that would require the company to investigate whether its cloud services (specifically Project Nimbus, which is a contract with the Israeli government) are aiding human rights abuses in conflict zones (you know, like Gaza).

Human Rights, Google, Israel, Politics

10 points by bhouston 9 days ago | 0 comments

USF Divests from Defense Companies Tied to Israel After Pressure from Students (kqed.org)
The University of San Francisco this week announced plans to divest from four U.S. defense companies that have contracts with the Israeli military, a rare win for pro-Palestinian student activists in the campus divestment movement.

University, Activism, Israel, Defense, Divestment

6 points by donsupreme 16 days ago | 0 comments

U.S. Jury Orders NSO Group to Pay $168M in WhatsApp Spyware Case (techoreon.com)
A U.S. federal jury has ruled in favour of WhatsApp in its cyber-espionage lawsuit against Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group, ordering the company to pay approximately $168 million in punitive damages.

Lawsuits, Cybersecurity, Spyware, Israel

24 points by Guptos 16 days ago | 1 comments

SpaceX launch site is approved as the new city of Starbase (apnews.com)
A missile from Yemen halts flights in Israel hours before top officials vote on plans for Gaza war

Space, Politics, Israel, Yemen

7 points by geox 19 days ago | 0 comments

US Science Agency NIH Says It Will Cut Funding to Researchers Who Protest Israel (gizmodo.com)
Under the Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health has announced a new policy that allows it to cut off funding to any medical researcher who engages in a political protest of Israel.

Politics, Israel, Science, Funding, US Government

7 points by rntn 30 days ago | 1 comments

Leaked data reveals Israeli govt campaign to remove pro-Palestine posts on Meta (dropsitenews.com)
Leaked Data Reveals Massive Israeli Campaign to Remove Pro-Palestine Posts on Facebook and Instagram

Israel, Social Media, Censorship, Politics, Palestine

1214 points by jbegley 42 days ago | 962 comments

Microsoft workers say they've been fired after protest over Israel contract (apnews.com)
Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.

Microsoft, Labor Disputes, Artificial Intelligence, Israel, Military

18 points by josefresco 45 days ago | 22 comments

BDS calls for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox gaming products (rockpapershotgun.com)
The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are calling on people to cancel Game Pass subscriptions, avoid Microsoft-owned video game properties such as Minecraft and Call Of Duty, and boycott all Microsoft Gaming and Xbox-branded products in protest at the company’s reported business connections with the Israeli military.

Politics, Boycotts, Gaming, Microsoft, Israel

12 points by jrepinc 47 days ago | 1 comments

Microsoft birthday interrupted by a protest against using AI by Israeli military (cnbc.com)

Microsoft, Artificial Intelligence, Protests, Israel, Military

10 points by franczesko 48 days ago | 1 comments

Microsoft CEOs interrupted by another employee protestor: 'shame on all of you' (theverge.com)
In the second major disruption of today’s 50th anniversary event at Microsoft’s headquarters, another employee stood up and began yelling at Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates — the company’s current and past CEOs — in protest of Microsoft’s dealings with the government of Israel.

Microsoft, Protests, Technology, Business, Israel

26 points by leotravis10 49 days ago | 6 comments

Hungary says it will pull out of ICC as Orban hosts Israel's Netanyahu (cnn.com)

Hungary, Politics, Israel, Diplomacy

9 points by croes 50 days ago | 2 comments

Six new ancient date trees (arava.org)
On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. This is the second year of harvesting fruit from this previously extinct tree, brought back to life by Dr. Elaine Solowey.

Ancient Trees, Botany, Agriculture, Israel

28 points by mooreds 54 days ago | 0 comments

2,200-year-old pyramid filled with coins and weapons found near Dead Sea (livescience.com)

Archaeology, History, Ancient History, Israel

31 points by permo-w 56 days ago | 10 comments

'No Other Land' Filmmaker Beaten and Detained, Claims Activist Group (hollywoodreporter.com)
One of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land has been injured and detained after a conflict that took place on the West Bank, according to his fellow filmmaker and an activist group.

Filmmaking, Activism, Israel, Palestine, Documentary

24 points by suraci 59 days ago | 2 comments

Lessons for Western Militaries from the Gaza War (quillette.com)
Israel’s experience in Gaza provides a sobering preview of what high-intensity urban warfare can entail, and how modern militaries must evolve to achieve decisive and ethical victories in any future conflict.

Military Strategy, War, Israel, Gaza

7 points by transfer92 67 days ago | 4 comments

Evidence that Neanderthal and Homo sapiens engaged in cultural exchange (phys.org)
A new discovery at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel is reshaping our understanding of human interactions during the Middle Paleolithic (MP) period in the Near East.

Archeology, Neanderthals, Human Evolution, Paleolithic Period, Israel

99 points by wglb 73 days ago | 93 comments

Intel ruined an Israeli startup it bought for $2B–and lost the AI race (calcalistech.com)
In December 2020, Amazon announced with great fanfare that it would use Gaudi chips from the small Israeli startup Habana Labs to train its large language models (LLMs) in the cloud.

Artificial Intelligence, Business, Israel, Acquisitions, Cloud Computing

98 points by danielklnstn 103 days ago | 73 comments

Spyware maker Paragon confirms U.S. government is a customer (techcrunch.com)
Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions confirmed to TechCrunch that it sells its products to the U.S. government and other unspecified allied countries.

Government Surveillance, Cybersecurity, Israel, Software

20 points by pulisse 108 days ago | 1 comments

WhatsApp Says Some Users Targeted by Israeli Spyware (gizmodo.com)
WhatsApp says that civil society workers and journalists on its platform were the targets of hacks by the Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions.

Privacy, Surveillance, Cybersecurity, Journalism, Israel

8 points by siltcakes 112 days ago | 0 comments

Leaked documents expose deep ties between Israeli army and Microsoft (972mag.com)
Microsoft has a “footprint in all major military infrastructures” in Israel, and sales of the company’s cloud and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli army have skyrocketed since the beginning of its onslaught on Gaza, according to leaked commercial records from Israel’s Defense Ministry and files from Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary.

Israel, Military, Microsoft, Technology, Cloud Computing

77 points by kombine 120 days ago | 54 comments

Drone footage shows Gaza in ruins after 15 months of war [video] (youtube.com)

Drone Footage, War, Gaza, Israel, Conflict

12 points by teleforce 122 days ago | 0 comments

MIT Shuts Grant DB After It Was Used to Research MIT's Israel Ties (theintercept.com)
The Israeli Ministry of Defense has poured more than $3.7 million into developing warfare technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2015, according to a recent report from students and faculty organizing against the war in Gaza.

Politics, Education, Israel, Military

14 points by eevilspock 123 days ago | 0 comments

The Former Israeli Spies Building AI Systems at Global Tech Companies (donotpanic.news)
Dozens of former members of Israel’s Unit 8200 - a secretive cyber warfare team accused of building the AI systems that helped enable the Gaza genocide - are now building AI systems for the world’s biggest tech and AI companies.

Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Israel, Ethics, Technology

4 points by jules-jules 123 days ago | 1 comments

Gen-Z shifted on Israel vs. Hamas from 50-50 (Dec 23) to 79-21 (Jan 25) (twitter.com)

Gen Z, Public Opinion, Israel, Hamas, Social Media

7 points by delichon 123 days ago | 2 comments

Weaponizing Wikipedia Against Israel (aish.com)
How the global information pipeline is being hijacked by digital jihadists.

Israel, Politics, Information Warfare, Propaganda, Social Media

12 points by xpl 127 days ago | 6 comments

Climate group that called for Gaza ceasefire risks losing federal funding (theverge.com)
An alliance of grassroots environmental groups could lose $60 million in federal funding after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Climate Change, Politics, Israel, Palestine, Funding

6 points by lots2learn 139 days ago | 0 comments