Big Tech’s New Ambitions: The Bloody Adventures of AI

This is part two of a series that talks about Big Tech’s new ambitions. Read part one, which details how Big Tech is trying to integrate itself into the global financial system, here. 

When we talk about models like ChatGPT, Grok, and DeepSeek, we are talking about Generative AI. Based on large amounts of data, developing learning patterns, these can write your emails, edit your photos and videos, and assist with coding. For most people this is transformative, yet this is a small aspect of AI. There are other powerful branches of AI extending far beyond this and developing at a rapid pace already with significant effect on people’s lives in the world. 

You might be familiar with predictive AI, robotic AI or machine learning based AI. Today, AI is preparing to perform medical surgeries and assist in accurate medical diagnoses. It is enhancing human capability across sectors, from agriculture to manufacturing. 

But beyond all these applications, a more serious development is underway: Big Tech is aligning with military and arms manufacturing companies. Let’s make one thing clear at the onset: AI in itself is not at fault, the problem arises from its deployment. 

Google has entered into a partnership with Lockheed Martin, one of the top weapons manufacturers in the US. Together, they are integrating Google’s cloud computing and AI systems into advanced weapon systems. 

You may have heard of Project Nimbus – a $1.2 billion deal signed in 2021 between Google, Amazon, and the Israeli government. Under this agreement, these tech giants are providing Israel with AI, data analytics, and cloud infrastructure.

Many Google employees have openly protested this deal, stating that their work is being used in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. It is the AI that is helping in targeted strikes and its algorithms are now identifying potential targets. Even the global internet narrative favouring Israel is being amplified using AI tools.  

The question is what are these tech companies doing in a war?

What exactly are their cloud systems doing and what exactly are they offering in tenders to the governments at war? +972 magazine’s investigation published in August 2024, sheds light on Amazon’s cloud system and its role in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. A cloud storage service not only means a place to store your data online, but also servers that can be accessed offline, and managed by a third party for the armies purchasing them. +972 magazine’s investigation shows how Israel’s constant and expanding need to update information on civilians in Gaza led it to Amazon’s cloud. This cloud offered Israel access to not only unlimited storage for its vast amount of data but also advanced AI capabilities already developed by Amazon. It is often a top guarded secret what the terms of services are between these tech firms and Israeli army, but one thing is clear that it is through these that mass surveillance of Gaza’s population has been possible, on AWS managed servers. And to manage all this, Amazon and Google had to open two data centres in Israel. 

Government research and development is slowly moving to already built civilian capacities by Big Tech often with public participation. Yet the public, the very people who have or their data has unknowingly trained these AI models for years, have no say in its further deployment. This is the new defence modernisation, relying on commercial AI vendors who are here for financial incentive and not remotely concerned or connected with real battlefield experience. 

Silicon valley has marched deep into military tech. The US military is now actively partnering with Scale AI and Microsoft in programmes like Thunderforge, which integrate AI agents for battlefield decision-making, paving a future for tech like autonomous killer robots. 

With the advent of AI, warfare has changed like never before. From targeted strikes recently in Iran, to the missile attacks during India-Pakistan conflict and of course the over 2 year genocide in Gaza, AI is playing an integral role. Even the social media narrative during a war, fuelled by AI tools(such as deep-fake videos) is rising or subduing a country’s or an army’s morale. It is because of the massive AI tools deployed by the Israeli government that internet has still been spewing a ‘balanced narrative’ often in favour of israel, despite a live-stream genocide feed coming directly on our phones. All this not only leads to massive mis-information and disinformation it also reduces our ability to clearly see the real from the unreal, the right from the wrong. 

But what are the tech bros gaining from this? 

In 2024, the market for global artificial intelligence in the military reached $9.67 billion. As per a report by Research And Markets it is expected to reach $23.97 billion in 2029 and $61.08 billion by 2034. No wonder why several regions are suddenly converting into conflict zones, and testing grounds for these emerging technologies. Given the economic incentive, it is only going to get worse. 

Beyond economic incentives, tech billionaires gain something far more valuable from their alliance with the military: control, power, and a seat at the global decision-making table. The line between Silicon Valley and the halls of government is blurring. We all saw how easily Musk could gain access to the most sensitive data of all US citizens via his short stint at DOGE. Mark Zuckerberg has openly flirted with political ambitions while embedding clauses in Facebook’s contracts to preserve his influence.

Imagine a world where tech giants merge financial, military, and surveillance power into a single axis of domination. Our data is already in their hands, our tech is controlled by them, now they are inside governments, and working on strengthening their grip on the financial systems and the military. Future isn’t going to be Hollywood's sci-fi nightmare where AI decides to exterminate humanity; it’s going to be a quieter, more plausible dystopia where tech elites govern every facet of our lives. With unchecked authority to monitor, manipulate, or even eliminate dissent, tech bros would become our unelected rulers, chaining humanity in algorithms of digital and actual slavery. They would be our masters, we’d be their perpetual bonded slaves. 

Kavita Kabeer is a writer and satirist.

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