transparency

A coordinated pair of stories surfaced this week that together sketch two urgent and contrasting dilemmas at the intersection of technology, power, and public life: investigative reporting that Israeli military intelligence has been using Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store and analyze massive...

Microsoft has opened a formal review into allegations that its cloud and AI technologies were used by Israeli security forces for large‑scale surveillance in Gaza and the West Bank — a development that escalates months of investigative reporting, employee protests, and policy debate about the...

The UK government has announced a national programme to trial agentic AI across public services, inviting frontier AI labs to work with Whitehall teams to build prototypes that could automate routine “life admin” — from filling forms and booking appointments to tailored careers and...

Microsoft has opened an “urgent” external review after investigative reporting alleged that Israel’s Unit 8200 used a bespoke environment on Microsoft Azure to ingest, store and analyse vast volumes of intercepted Palestinian communications — claims that raise immediate questions about cloud...

Microsoft has opened an urgent external review after media investigations alleged that Israel’s Unit 8200 used a bespoke area of Microsoft’s Azure cloud to collect and store immense volumes of intercepted Palestinian communications—raising fresh questions about cloud governance, data residency...

Microsoft has opened a formal inquiry after fresh reports allege that Israel’s elite intelligence unit used Microsoft Azure to store and analyse vast volumes of intercepted Palestinian communications, raising urgent questions about cloud governance, corporate responsibility, and the role of big...

The Case for Personality‑Free AI A practical, ethical, and technical argument for keeping our assistants professional — and how to design AI that helps without pretending to be human By WindowsForum.com contributor — August 15, 2025 Summary: As AI moves from isolated tools into always‑on...

A Mission to Bring the Clean Energy Future Subtitle: How a Microsoft Garage hackathon project — now a commercial workstream — is using generative AI to break permitting bottlenecks and accelerate the global energy transition By: WindowsForum Staff Writer Lede: A Microsoft Hackathon prototype...

OpenAI’s GPT‑5 rollout has hit an early snag: a technically ambitious upgrade that promised sharper reasoning, larger context windows and selectable “thinking” modes provoked an unexpected user backlash over tone, prompting the company to restore the older GPT‑4o model for paying users and to...

With the stroke of a pen, U.S. President Donald Trump has thrown the tech industry—and America’s AI policy—into the center of a combustible new culture war. Framed as an effort to counter China’s bid for artificial intelligence supremacy, Trump’s trio of executive orders on AI seeks to loosen...

San Jose’s experiment with artificial intelligence marks a new milestone in Silicon Valley’s ongoing quest to redefine how city governments serve their residents. Mayor Matt Mahan’s public embrace of AI, particularly large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is not a branding gimmick but a...

Microsoft’s relationship with the Israeli government and military has thrust the global tech giant into a maelstrom of shareholder dissent, mounting employee activism, and sharp external criticism. Over the past year, the company’s provision of Azure cloud infrastructure and AI services to the...

Few technology decisions are as deeply personal—or as impactful—as the choice of the software you rely on every day. In a world where proprietary giants dominate the mainstream, a growing number of users are making the bold leap to open source alternatives. The allure is more than philosophical...

Windows Vista may not have been the darling of its generation, but its translucent Aero graphics remain one of the most influential—and enduring—moments in user interface history. Microsoft’s ill-fated operating system has long been remembered for its frustrating performance, confusing security...

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, was midway through his keynote address at the renowned Microsoft Build developer conference when the unexpected occurred—his presentation was disrupted by a protester demanding Palestinian rights. The incident, which swiftly drew widespread attention online, not...

Microsoft’s recent decision to block the internal use of terms such as “Palestine,” “Gaza,” and “genocide” in company emails has set off waves of controversy both inside and outside the tech giant. Unfolding immediately after the company’s annual Build developer conference, this move has been...

Amidst intensifying global focus on Big Tech’s social responsibilities, recent accusations against Microsoft are sparking heated debate about free expression, corporate ethics, and complicity in conflict. According to reports in ABP Live and Moneycontrol, a group of pro-Palestinian Microsoft...

The keynote address at Microsoft Build 2025 in Seattle was abruptly thrown into the spotlight—not for a major product reveal or a breakthrough AI announcement, but for a passionate protest reflecting the global tech industry’s increasingly complex entanglement with matters of war, ethics, and...

Just minutes into Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s highly anticipated keynote at the Build developer conference in Seattle, a dramatic protest unfolded that sent shockwaves through the world of tech and reignited fierce debates over the tech sector’s role in global conflicts. A Microsoft engineer...

Microsoft’s handling of internal dissent and external scrutiny over its technology’s use in conflict zones has emerged as a focal point in the ongoing debate about the responsibilities of global tech companies. The company’s recent actions—firing employees for staging pro-Palestinian protests...