Since Oct 2023, Google has sold its AI tools Vertex and Gemini AI to the IDF

A few posts from a thread on Bluesky...

STATEMENT—from Google workers with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign on Washington Post’s reporting that Google rushed to sell the Israeli military its AI tools since the launch of its genocidal attack on Gaza began on October 7, 2023 [THREAD] www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

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— No Tech For Apartheid (@notechforapartheid.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Here's that Washington Post story.

Yesterday, reporting from the Washington Post confirmed: Since October 7, Google executives feverishly pushed to get Google's state of the art artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military. This includes Google’s Vertex and Gemini AI.

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— No Tech For Apartheid (@notechforapartheid.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM

Critically, part of this push came from an urgent effort to beat out Amazon, Google’s main competitor in cloud, and the other beneficiary of Project Nimbus.

— No Tech For Apartheid (@notechforapartheid.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM

This reporting officially debunks Google’s canned response to workers and press who have, since 2021, raised concerns about the corporation’s business with Israel: Project Nimbus is directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.

— No Tech For Apartheid (@notechforapartheid.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have killed over 186,000 Palestinians in Gaza (as estimated by the Lancet in 2024, and likely a massively under-reported number); and products like Vertex and Gemini are not used just for tasks like email or payroll.

— No Tech For Apartheid (@notechforapartheid.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:44 PM

The thread continues on Bluesky.

A few months later:

"Not long ago, artificial intelligence executives were asking Congress for more regulation. The House of Representatives budget bill passed last week demonstrates how quickly the industry has changed course.

Inside the House bill is a moratorium on the sort of state-level AI regulations that have addressed political “deepfakes” and using AI to deny medical claims. At the same time the House bill cuts Medicare, it would funnel more money to tech companies to develop kamikaze drones.

For proponents of AI regulation, the House bill is the culmination of a shift in the industry’s mindset. Rather than paying lip service to popular concerns about AI, the industry has decided to partner with the Trump administration on its goal of “global AI dominance.”

“The message is clear. The House Republican proposal is stealing from poor people to give huge handouts to Big Tech to build technology that is going to perpetuate the president’s authoritarian plans and crackdowns against vulnerable people,” said Kevin De Liban, the founder of TechTonic Justice, a nonprofit aimed at preventing tech from harming low-income people."

Trump’s Big, Beautiful Handout to the AI Industry; The budget bill advanced by House Republicans bans states from regulating AI while pumping billions into autonomous weapons. Matt Sledge, The Intercept, May 29 2025