WASHINGTON – The United States was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN.
Kirby, in the CNN interview, said the US had not verified the content of the media report published in +972 Magazine and Local Call. It cited Israeli intelligence officials involved in the reported programme known as “Lavender.”
The Israeli Defense Forces, in statements to the media, denied that AI was used to identify suspected targets.
The media report, according to Reuters, said that the Israeli army had marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using the AI system with little human oversight.
Kirby, in the CNN interview, was also asked about an Axios report that the Israeli security cabinet had approved the opening of the Erez crossing with Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid to enter.
Kirby said that if true, the opening of the crossing would be “welcome news” and “certainly in keeping” with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in their call late Thursday.
The White House said that Biden, in the call, threatened to condition support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza on its taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians.
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