THIS WEEK IN AI GOVERNANCE

The latest in defense, regulation, gov tech & geopolitics

• Stars and Stripes meet Union Jack as AI boosts UK-US cooperation under Starmer and Trump

• Hamas not feeling Trump’s AI-generated Gaza video

• India and UK bolster tech partnership in AI, 6G and space

• How US tech giants supplied Israel with AI models, raising questions about tech’s role in warfare

• Putting pocket tech to work: NYC Subway deploys Google Pixels to detect track defects

• Microsoft workers protest sale of AI to Israeli military

• Power, hardware and skills: Strategic imperatives in the US-China AI race

• AI in warfare: Build allied AI or risk fighting (and losing) alone

• Qatar partners with Scale AI to enhance government services with AI

• See you in court: Nvidia challenges EU regulators over AI startup acquisition probe

Funding AI education, industry immersion, and career assistance to those who have served our nation.

What’s happening in AI policy right now

AI steps onto the battlefield

How tech giants are transforming modern warfare while raising profound ethical questions

The rapid integration of AI into military operations is no longer theoretical. U.S. tech giants have significantly expanded AI and computing services to Israel's military, enabling faster tracking and targeting of militants in Gaza and Lebanon. This marks what Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, describes as "the first confirmation we have gotten that commercial AI models are directly being used in warfare."

This development represents a watershed moment in military technology - one that illuminates broader questions about the role of commercial AI in warfare and the ethical responsibilities of the companies creating these tools.

The tech-military complex emerges

The scale of AI deployment in Israel's military operations is substantial. According to recent investigations, Microsoft's Azure cloud platform usage by the Israeli military increased nearly 200-fold after the October 2023 Hamas attack. Israel's military response strained its own servers, increasing reliance on third-party vendors who could provide the computing power needed for advanced AI operations.

Microsoft's relationship with Israel's military spans decades, but this dramatic scaling up of services represents something new in both magnitude and capability. As Col. Racheli Dembinsky, Israel's top military IT officer, noted, AI has provided "very significant operational effectiveness" in Gaza.

The relationship extends well beyond Microsoft:

• Google and Amazon provide cloud computing and AI services under "Project Nimbus," a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021

• Cisco and Dell server farms support military operations

• Red Hat (an IBM subsidiary) provides cloud computing technologies

• Palantir Technologies has a "strategic partnership" providing AI systems

What makes this situation particularly notable is how it evolved alongside shifting ethical positions. OpenAI changed its terms of use last year to permit national security applications, and Google recently followed suit by removing language prohibiting the use of its AI for weapons and surveillance.

The interoperability challenge

As AI becomes central to military operations, a new challenge emerges: interoperability between allied forces. The U.S. military and its allies are incorporating AI into defense capabilities, aiming to enhance effectiveness by 2029. However, independent AI development by individual nations risks creating incompatible systems that could hinder joint military operations.

This lack of coordination poses significant problems for:

• Strategic effectiveness in multi-national operations

• Rapid response capabilities in crisis situations

• Data sharing across different military systems

• Joint training and operational planning

Initiatives like the AI Partnership for Defense represent early efforts to address these challenges, but significantly more coordination will be needed to ensure effective military AI interoperability.

Internal tensions mirror external debates

The integration of AI into military operations isn't just creating tensions between nations; it's also generating conflict within the companies providing the technology. Microsoft recently faced internal protests when five employees disrupted CEO Satya Nadella's company-wide meeting in protest of the company's contracts with Israel's defense ministry.

These employees raised concerns about potential violations of Microsoft's own human rights principles, highlighting the ethical dilemmas facing tech workers whose products are being used in warfare. Microsoft has reportedly taken action against employee activism related to these military contracts, illustrating the growing tensions between corporate objectives and employee concerns.

This internal conflict mirrors broader societal questions about the appropriate role of commercial technology in military operations, especially as the line between civilian and military technology continues to blur.

The ethical frontline

The deployment of AI in active warfare raises profound ethical questions that extend well beyond the specific context of the Israel-Gaza conflict:

1. Reliability and error rates: What are the implications when AI systems make mistakes in target identification or intelligence analysis?

2. Accountability chains: Who bears responsibility when AI-assisted operations result in civilian casualties or other unintended consequences?

3. Transparency limitations: How can military AI systems be properly evaluated when their operations are classified and opaque?

4. Dual-use dilemmas: How should companies navigate the reality that technologies designed for civilian purposes can be repurposed for military applications?

5. Terms of service evolution: What does it mean when tech companies modify their ethical guidelines to accommodate military applications?

The conflict in Gaza has resulted in over 50,000 casualties, raising serious questions about how AI technologies might be contributing to targeting decisions and their consequences.

The precedent being set

Perhaps most significantly, the current deployment of commercial AI in the Israel-Gaza conflict sets a precedent for future military AI use globally. As these technologies prove their effectiveness, military organizations worldwide will likely accelerate their adoption and development of similar capabilities.

This creates an urgent need for thoughtful discussion about the appropriate boundaries for military AI - discussions that must include not just military leaders and tech executives, but also ethicists, international law experts, human rights organizations, and the broader public.

The decisions being made today about how AI systems are deployed in warfare will shape military operations for decades to come. As with previous military technological revolutions - from gunpowder to nuclear weapons - the full implications may not be immediately apparent, but will profoundly shape the future of conflict.

The integration of AI into warfare represents not just a technical evolution but a fundamental shift in how wars are fought — and the ethics of AI decision-making in matters of life and death.