MIT Censors Campus Publication Exposing Collaboration with Israeli Military to Develop AI Surveillance

MIT students and faculty are embroiled in a fiery dispute over allegations that research led by Daniela Rus, director of the university’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), is funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMoD). Activists claim the research, focused on algorithms for surveillance and autonomous systems, has direct applications in military operations targeting Palestinians in Gaza.

The MIT Coalition for Palestine has accused Rus of complicity in human rights violations, citing her lab’s $425,000 in IMoD funding since 2021. The group has held protests and issued demands for MIT to sever ties with the ImoD, likening the research to enabling war crimes. In one demonstration, protestors delivered letters to Rus’s office, leading to a swift response from campus police, with students arrested and facing disciplinary action.

MIT’s administration is under fire for what critics call a disproportionate crackdown on dissent. Protesters report receiving charges of harassment and even assault despite nonviolent actions like posting flyers and filming the arrests. Activists argue that disciplinary measures unfairly target students of color and echo broader systemic racism at the institution.

The Coalition remains defiant, calling for an immediate end to MIT’s military-linked research and demanding transitional funding for affected students. “MIT has a moral obligation to ensure its research is not used for genocide,” the group declared, referencing similar divestments following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the university has not commented on the broader allegations but defended disciplinary measures as necessary for campus safety. Rus has remained silent on the protests, fueling tensions further.

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