“Millions - possibly billions - of people have since heard that start-up chime. I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war”: Brian Eno donates Windows 95 fee to Palestinian aid

Brian Eno has penned an open letter to Microsoft urging the tech company to disinvest in Israel and has pledged to donate his fee from the six second chime he originally composed for Windows 95 to aid for Palestinians.

It comes in the wake of Microsoft admitting that it has sold AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli Defence Force that have been used in the war in Gaza. It is estimated that over 63,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since October 2023.

Eno has posted his letter on Instagram. In it, that he “never would have believed” that the company that once represented “a promising technological future” would be complicit in “the machinery of oppression and war”.

“In the mid-1990s, I was asked to compose a short piece of music for Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system,” he said by way of an introduction. “Millions - possibly even billions - of people have since heard that short start-up chime - which represented a gateway to a promising technological future. I never would have believed that the same company could one day be implicated in the machinery of oppression and war.”

He continues: “Selling and facilitating advanced AI and cloud services to a government engaged in systematic ethnic cleansing is not ‘business as usual.’ It is complicity. If you knowingly build systems that can enable war crimes, you inevitably become complicit in those crimes.

“We now live in an age where corporations like Microsoft often command more influence than governments. I believe that with such a power comes an absolute ethical responsibility. Accordingly, I call on Microsoft to suspend all services that support any operations that contribute to violations of international law.”

Eno was originally paid $35,000 for his composition by Microsoft, money which will now go to Gazans very much in need of aid.

His statement continued: “My new start up chime is this: stand in solidarity with the brave Microsoft workers who have done something truly disruptive and refused to stay silent. They risk their livelihoods for people who have lost and will continue to lose their lives.”

“I invite artists, technologists, musicians, and all people of conscience to join me in this call.”

In recent years Eno has been increasingly vocal about a range of political issues, especially Palestinian freedom. In April 2021 he took part in a Live For Gaza online concert, which featured Gaza’s first rock band Osprey V and he was amongst the first artists to call for a ceasefire after the Israeli aerial bombardment started back in October 2023.