Microsoft divests from Israeli facial-recognition tech found in military checkpoints

Microsoft said Friday it really is pulling its investments from a facial-recognition startup that scans faces at Israeli military checkpoints, even though the tech giant couldn't substantiate claims that the startup's technology can be used unethically.

Microsoft late this past year hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to lead a team of lawyers to audit Israeli firm AnyVision.

AnyVision had announced a $74 million investment in June from an organization including Microsoft's capital raising arm. The firm and its own Microsoft backing attracted public scrutiny as the Israeli military installed face scanners at border crossings where Palestinians enter Israel from the West Bank.

Holder's team was asked in October to determine whether AnyVision's technology applications adhere to Microsoft's ethical principles against using facial recognition for mass surveillance. Microsoft and AnyVision jointly announced Friday that the audit didn't substantiate any breach of Microsoft's principles.

A statement from the Washington-based lawyer Covington & Burling, where Holder works, said that available evidence “demonstrates that AnyVision's technology has not previously and will not currently power a mass surveillance program in the West Bank that is alleged in media reports.” Regulations firm said the audit included an assessment of accounting records and a niche site visit to AnyVision’s facilities in Holon, Israel.

But Microsoft also said Friday it really is still divesting its stake in the startup, and can stop making minority investments in companies that sell facial-recognition technology.

The company located in Redmond, Washington, said that the audit underscored the challenges to be a minority investor in a company selling sensitive technology since it may not have sufficient oversight or control over how the technology is used.

AnyVision has previously said its technology is employed at border crossings much like how facial recognition can be used at some airports.