Overview

• Employee-led demonstrators with the No Azure for Apartheid movement set up an encampment at Microsoft’s Redmond campus over two days to press the company to cut commercial ties with Israel.
• Redmond police said 18 people were arrested after some refused to leave company property, with officials citing trespass and alleging red paint was sprayed on a Microsoft sign.
• Protesters accuse the company of enabling surveillance of Palestinians through Azure, arguing its technologies contribute to civilian harm in Gaza.
• Recent investigations by the Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that Israeli units, including Unit 8200, used Microsoft technologies to store phone-call data and manage systems tied to target databases.
• Microsoft maintains it is not aware of such misuse, notes its terms prohibit it, and has retained Covington & Burling to review the specific allegations, as separate AP reporting documented a sharp rise in Israeli military use of commercial AI after Oct. 7, 2023.