Microsoft Exec: Israel's Tech Sector Could Suffer from War with Hamas

Israeli military vehicles move near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023 in southern Israel, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)
Israeli military vehicles move near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023 in southern Israel, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)
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Microsoft Exec: Israel's Tech Sector Could Suffer from War with Hamas

Israeli military vehicles move near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023 in southern Israel, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)
Israeli military vehicles move near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023 in southern Israel, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)

A senior Microsoft Israel official expressed concern for the future of Israel's high tech sector due to the country's war with Hamas, warning multinational companies may close research and development activities, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Tomer Simon, chief scientist at Microsoft Israel's R&D Center, said he expressed his concerns in a letter to Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's head of the National Security Council, but never received a reply.
As a result, Simon published his letter in the Calcalist financial daily on Wednesday, saying it was his personal opinion and not on behalf of Microsoft, one of hundreds of multinationals operating in Israel.
"The country must create a positive horizon so that multinational companies continue to grow," Simon said, noting that for every tech job, there were five more created that drive Israel's economy.
"There is a great danger here. Israel cannot return to just producing oranges. Without high-tech we will return to being a third world economy."
The prime minister's office did not immediately comment to Reuters.
Simon, who also acknowledged the human cost of the war, called on leaders to send a clear message to international partners and the global business community that Israel was committed to a prosperous and stable future.
Hundreds of thousands of army reservists have been called up, leaving a gaping hole in manpower and disrupting supply chains from seaports to supermarkets.
"The war has created a substantial vacuum in the workforce of the high-tech sector. This scenario is especially noticeable in multinational corporations located in Israel, where the percentage of employees recruited to the reserves is significantly higher than the national average," Simon said.
Simon did not cite figures but the government has estimated as much as 15% of tech workers were called to military service.
He said their absence harms both current projects and "sends a worrying message to their global headquarters about the reliability and stability of their Israeli operations, and of Israel in general".
Simon also pointed to the preceding 10 months of political turmoil amid a judicial overhaul plan that harmed foreign investments and led to a few R&D closures.
He cautioned that "multinational companies may freeze or reduce their investments after the conflict, and even to close their R&D activities here" which would carry harmful results for Israel's economy and the "future of innovation, weaken our global position and undermine our internal stability even more".



Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Gets an Update, Starts Sharing Antisemitic Posts

xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Gets an Update, Starts Sharing Antisemitic Posts

xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it's taking down “inappropriate posts" made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Musk said Friday that Grok has been improved significantly, and users “should notice a difference.”

Since then, Grok has shared several antisemitic posts, including the trope that Jews run Hollywood, and denied that such a stance could be described as Nazism.

“Labeling truths as hate speech stifles discussion,” Grok said.

It also appeared to praise Hitler, according to screenshots of a post that has now apparently been deleted.

“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” the Grok account posted early Wednesday, without being more specific.

"Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.

Also Wednesday, a court in Türkiye ordered a ban on Grok after it spread content insulting to Turkish President and others.

The pro-government A Haber news channel reported that Grok posted vulgarities against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his late mother and well-known personalities. Offensive responses were also directed toward modern Türkiye's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, other media outlets said.

That prompted the Ankara public prosecutor to file for the imposition of restrictions under Türkiye's internet law, citing a threat to public order. A criminal court approved the request early on Wednesday, ordering the country’s telecommunications authority to enforce the ban.

It's not the first time Grok's behavior has raised questions.

Earlier this year the chatbot kept talking about South African racial politics and the subject of “white genocide” despite being asked a variety of questions, most of which had nothing to do with the country. An “unauthorized modification” was behind the problem, xAI said.