Google expressed concern in 2021 that ties with Israel would damage company’s reputation

In 2021, when Google entered into a $1.2 billion deal with the Israeli government and Amazon to provide AI and cloud services, the company reportedly worried that its association with Israel could harm its reputation, The New York Times reported last week.

The initiative, "Project Nimbus," makes it possible for Israeli state entities to transfer servers and services into cloud data centers that are provided locally. Project Nimbus is also used by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, as well as Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency).

“The cloud services will be hosted by local cloud providers. The data stored on them will remain within Israel’s borders under strict data security regulations overseen by the relevant government offices,” the Israeli Finance Ministry stated in April 2021. 

“Project Nimbus is our flagship multi-year plan and the first of its kind. The project is intended to provide the government, the defense establishment and others with an all encompassing cloud solution,” the ministry added.

The initial contract spans seven years, with an option to extend the agreement for up to 23 years.

At the time, officials at Google were reportedly concerned that signing the contract with Israel would damage its public standing and wrote a letter to Google executives, stating: “Google Cloud services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank.”

Hundreds of current and former employees at Google protested the company's affiliation with Israel while attending the annual developer conference in Mountain View, California in May. They demanded that the company sever ties with Israel over the war in Gaza, with some chaining themselves together and holding a banner that read, “Google stop fueling genocide.”

Some employees claim that Google technology could play a role in the war, while its executives have said that Project Nimbus “is not directed at highly sensitive, classified or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”

“What you will not be hearing from today’s speakers is that right now, as I stand here before you, the state of Israel is using Google technology to execute history’s first AI-powered genocide,” one of the protesters was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

“We have been very clear that the Nimbus contract is for workloads running on our commercial cloud by Israeli government ministries, who agree to comply with our terms of service and acceptable use policy,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement, according to NYT.

In April, a group of Google employees organized 'sit-ins' to protest the Nimbus Project. As a result, Google dismissed approximately 50 employees for their involvement, and police arrested nine participants.