Michelle Grisales May 21st, 2025 - 10:33 PM
Brooklyn Vegan reported that musician Brian Eno has posted an open letter to Microsoft, urging them to terminate its relationship with the Israeli government. Eno, who famously created seven-second start-up sound for Microsoft’s Windows 95 and offered over 80 versions before the final was chosen, to promise the original fee he received for that work will be donated to support those affected by the ongoing attacks in Gaza.
In the post, Eno reflected on his collaboration with Microsoft in the 1990s, describing it as a “creative challenge” and a moment filled with optimism for the future of technology.
“I gladly took on the project… I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war,” Eno wrote.
The artist then asserted he was speaking as a global citizen rather than a composer and criticized Microsoft’s provision of services including Azure AI, cloud computing and language translation to Israel’s Ministry of Defence.
Eno referenced Microsoft’s recent blog post from May 15th in which the corporation acknowledged these services, while claiming limited insight into how they are deployed by end users.
“These ‘services’ support a regime that is engaged in actions described by leading legal scholars and human rights organisations, United Nations experts and increasing numbers of governments from around the world, as genocidal,” Eno wrote.
Labeling Microsoft’s involvement as “complicity,” Eno challenged the company’s ethical stance in continuing business operations that may aid human rights violations. “If you knowingly build systems that can enable war crimes, you inevitably become complicit in those crimes,” he said.
“I call on Microsoft to suspend all services that support any operations that contribute to violations of international law,” Eno pleaded.
He then showed support to Microsoft employees who have taken stands against the company’s role and called on fellow artists, technologists and concerned citizens to join his campaign.
Eno closed his post by sharing his pledge to donate his original Windows 95 composition fee to relief efforts in Gaza, offering the gesture as a symbol of change, “If a sound can signal a real change, then let it be this one.”
Aside from Eno’s solidarity, he has also been involved in a musical project with artist Featie Wolf and is expected to release two collaborative albums on June 6th.
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