Concept 2025–2026: Investigating the Kill Cloud: AI, Big Tech and Militarisation

On 11 September 2025, the Disruption Network Institute launched the second round of fellowships, focusing on technological control and repression both at a global and local levels (from war zones, border regions, and urban environments to cyberspace and outer space). Here, the use of artificial intelligence in automated target recognition, as well as systems of pervasive surveillance, are optimised to monitor and control civilians, turning them into targets for migration, warfare, business, and advertising. Special attention will be paid to the testing of military technologies on communities with restricted civil rights. Three researchers — a whistleblower, Cian Westmoreland; an investigative journalist, Namir Shabibi; and an artist, Tiara Roxanne — will investigate the use of AI, cloud infrastructure and predictive analytics in targeting tools in war zones and areas of conflict, and in the surveillance of the global majority.

Our group of fellows and associated experts, seek to find answers to problems related to injustice at a time of severe polarisation, to cut through some of the “blurring” and help foster greater public engagement and knowledge on these issues. We aim at providing some understanding into ethical problems with the current use of AI and satellite technology, such as their enabling of arbitrary targeted killing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We work to ensure that technology benefits people and our society, rather than being used in contexts ranging from the killing of civilians in war zones to the surveillance of migrants and marginalised communities in general.

The fellowships began in September 2025, running June 2026. On November 27-29 2026, the results of the investigations and research will be presented at our international conference in Berlin, as we did in 2024. Finally, we plan a second international roundtable to bring together speakers and experts in the field of information technology, AI and warfare to contribute specifically to the debate on how Big Tech is fuelling data-centric warfare and how this impacts civil society.

Objectives

The second round of fellowships examines modern warfare and the impact that artificial intelligence could have both inside and outside declared war zones. We develop in-depth knowledge of the risks associated with the introduction of technologies such as artificial intelligence, automated target recognition and social network manipulation into the modern battlefield, at borders, and also in conflict zones which are used as testing grounds for surveillance, facial recognition and targeting.

Artificial intelligence is actively reshaping how conflicts are managed and how human rights violations are documented. Wars are increasingly used as testing grounds for new lethal autonomous weapons, advanced recognition systems, biometric surveillance, and AI-driven programs to identify targets. Simultaneously, surveillance tools such as cameras, drones, biometrics, and motion sensors are being deployed to expand AI-powered surveillance and data collection, particularly in areas like migration management, asylum procedures, and border control.

To gain a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding AI data work, we explore the role of data capitalism, technological warfare, and surveillance technologies that promote a worldview grounded in the exploitation of vulnerable populations, often at the expense of minorities.

As we have already demonstrated for our 2023-2024 fellowships, the interdisciplinary nature of our work was able to analyse the issue of AI and warfare, highlighting the complexity of global data-driven warfare. By combining the work of a whistleblower, an investigative journalist and an artist, we aim to reach a wide audience and extend the findings to directly engage members of affected communities. The aim is to understand how these technologies are implemented and adopted at global and European levels, and their impact on communities in conflict zones, with a particular focus on ongoing wars and civil rights movements.

See the results of our fellowships 2023–2024 (published November 2024)