Palestine Action defendants targeted Elbit's use of ‘deadly AI’, court hears

Palestine Action defendants charged in connection with a break-in at an Elbit Systems factory targeted the Israeli arms company’s use of artificial intelligence, an English court heard on Friday.

Leona Kamio, 30, Charlotte Head, 29, Jordan Devlin, 31, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Samuel Corner, 23, face charges of criminal damage in connection with the break-in at the factory at Filton, near Bristol, in August 2024.

Testifying at London’s Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, Rogers said she and fellow defendant Kamio had sought to destroy computers in the Elbit factory because the company “uses AI to target its victims”.

She said the factory, in the west of England, was “an R&D [research and development] factory” whose advanced weapons technology included AI-driven support systems used by Israel. 

Elbit’s own website describes the Israeli state-owned company’s “vast and unparalleled experience developing world-leading ground and in-flight simulators… [providing] the technological basis for the company’s AI-driven Decision Support Systems”.

Read more: Palestine Action defendants targeted Elbit's use of ‘deadly AI’, court hears