Eylon Etshtein
Israeli co-founder and former CEO of the facial-recognition company AnyVision (Oosto)
| Eylon Etshtein
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Technology executive |
| Known for | Co-founder and chief executive of AnyVision (later Oosto) |
Eylon Etshtein is an Israeli technology executive who co-founded the facial-recognition company AnyVision in 2015 and was its chief executive until November 2020. AnyVision, which renamed itself Oosto in 2021, was reported to have powered Israeli military surveillance of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. It won the Israel Defense Prize in 2018.[1][2][3]
AnyVision
The Times of Israel reported that Etshtein founded AnyVision in 2015 with Professor Neil Robertson. It also reported that former Mossad head Tamir Pardo was an adviser to the company.[4] NBC News reported in 2019 that the company "has close ties to Israel's military and intelligence services". Its president was Amir Kain, director of the Defence Ministry's security department from 2007 to 2015, and several of its employees had served in Unit 8200.[1]
West Bank surveillance
According to five sources cited by NBC News, AnyVision's technology powered a secret military surveillance project throughout the West Bank, nicknamed "Google Ayosh", "Ayosh" being a term for the occupied Palestinian territories. When NBC first approached the company, Etshtein "denied any knowledge of 'Google Ayosh,' threatened to sue NBC News and said that AnyVision was the 'most ethical company known to man.'" He also "disputed that the West Bank was 'occupied'" and suggested that the reporter must have been funded by a Palestinian activist group. AnyVision later apologised for what NBC called "the outburst". Etshtein told NBC: "Israel was the first territory where we validated our technology. However, today more than 95 percent of our revenue is generated from end customers outside of Israel."[1]
Microsoft's venture arm M12 had invested in AnyVision. Microsoft commissioned an audit led by former US Attorney General Eric Holder of Covington & Burling. In March 2020 Microsoft and AnyVision said the audit had not substantiated claims that AnyVision's technology powered a mass surveillance programme in the West Bank. Microsoft nevertheless sold its stake and said it would stop making minority investments in companies that sell facial-recognition technology.[5][4]
In October 2020 AnyVision announced that Avi Golan would become CEO from 1 November 2020. Etshtein, named in the release as a co-founder with Alex Zilberman, became president.[2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Olivia Solon, Why did Microsoft fund an Israeli firm that surveils West Bank Palestinians? NBC News, 28 October 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Business Wire, AnyVision Appoints Silicon Valley Tech Veteran Avi Golan as its New CEO Business Wire, 27 October 2020.
- ↑ Business Wire, Visual AI Company AnyVision Changes its Name to Oosto Business Wire, 27 October 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shoshanna Solomon, As AnyVision probed, Israeli watchdog urges curbs on sales of surveillance tech The Times of Israel, 18 November 2019.
- ↑ M12, Joint statement by Microsoft & AnyVision M12, 27 March 2020.