Tag: News

• Googleplex is the global headquarters for Google and Alphabet, located in Mountain View, California.
• Google recently expanded Googleplex's campus to add more amenities for employees.
• Googleplex is one of dozens of US-based offices; Google has another headquarters in New York City.

The Googleplex, the global headquarters for Google and its parent company Alphabet, is located in Mountain View, California.

The name Googleplex has two meanings. First, it's a portmanteau of "Google" and "complex." But it has an additional significance that connects to the origin of Google's name.

A "googol" is a totally massive number, and the source of the tech giant's name. A googolplex is equal to 10 to the googol power.

The Googleplex campus spans about 12 acres of land with over 3 million square feet of office space. It is Google's largest headquarters, closely rivaled by its nearly 3-million-square-foot office building in Manhattan.

Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page rented out their friend Susan Wojcicki's garage to use as office space when the company was first incorporated in 1998. Just a few years later, in 2006, Google purchased the Googleplex for $319 million.

The company's headquarters, where Google CEO Sundar Pichai spends his work days, has since undertaken a number of expansions, including one in 2019 that added over 30,000 square feet of new space. The Googleplex expansion included multiple cafes, fitness facilities, and lounge areas. The design theme is based on the historical salt production that took place in the local marshes.

How many Google headquarters are there in the US?

There are more than 70 offices in 50 countries around the world, according to the company's website. 

In the United States, Google's footprint covers well over two dozen cities, including Miami, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boulder, Chicago, and Portland.

Google's office sites are often unique buildings that reflect the history of the cities where they're located.

For instance, the Pittsburgh office is located in a former Nabisco factory, its Chicago office is a converted cold storage facility, and its LA office is located in a historic airplane hangar. Google DeepMind is located in an 11-storey building in Kings Cross, London.

Google's New York headquarters, located in an old train terminal next to the Hudson River, opened in February 2024. The new HQ features rooftop solar panels, multiple terraces and gardens, an event space, and communal workspaces and lounges.

It's unclear exactly how many employees work at the Googleplex in California. But altogether, Alphabet, Google's parent company, employed some 182,500 workers as of 2023.

The Googleplex's famous amenities — including gardens, fitness classes, and "MicroKitchens" — have long drawn tech workers to seek out prestigious Google jobs.

Can you go inside Google headquarters?

Its quirky and technologically advanced design has turned the Googleplex into a tourist attraction in the Bay Area.

While you can't enter the buildings without being accompanied by an authorized employee, you are free to walk the grounds of the complex. You can check out the tyrannosaurus rex statue that's meant to remind employees to stay on the cutting edge and avoid becoming dinosaurs, the Android sculpture park, the gardens that grow food for the campus restaurants, sports fields, and more.

If you're looking for more than self-guided wandering, you can head next door to Google's Gradient Canopy office, which is home to the Google Visitor Experience. You can attend workshops and other events at the Huddle, check out local goods at Google's pop-up shop, visit cafes and the Google Store, and take in interesting outdoor art installations on the Plaza.

• OpenAI may unveil a new multimodal AI assistant on Monday, The Information reported.
• This technology could, in theory, help automated customer service agents detect sarcasm.
• The new model could also be integrated into OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT.

Wannabe stand-up comedians and frustrated customers, beware: The robot phone operators may not find your deadpan insults amusing in the future.

The Information reported that machine learning company OpenAI could unveil a voice assistant with both audio and visual capabilities that could, in theory, detect sarcasm.

Finally.

According to one person with knowledge of the new tech who spoke with The Information, the mystery assistant could improve on the automated customer service agent technology the company already offers.

The AI assistant — which can talk to users and recognize objects and images — could have many other features, of course, the outlet reported, citing two people who have seen it themselves. These features include "a better understanding of image and audio" and "better logical reasoning," per the report.

The technology could be revealed as soon as Monday during OpenAI's planned livestream announcing updates on their GPT technology.

"The assistant could theoretically do a range of things not possible today, such as acting as a tutor for a student working on a paper or on math problems, or giving people information about their surroundings when they ask for it, like translating signs or explaining how to fix car troubles," the report said.

The new multimodal model is still prone to AI hallucinations — a phenomenon where models spit out answers that have no basis in reality — a person familiar with it told The Information.

This new tech could eventually be integrated into the publicly available and free version of OpenAI's popular chatbot ChatGPT.

The Information reports the tech will move CEO Sam Altman one step closer to creating a more useful AI assistant similar to the virtual Samantha, played by Scarlett Johansson in the movie "Her" — though hopefully, no one falls in love with it. (That was not sarcasm.)

Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Students and their professors are asking universities to divest from Israel.
• At Indiana University, protesters say they've been met with a militarized response from police.
• Professors say the current protests share stark differences and chilling similarities to past ones.

On April 25, a day after Indiana University made a controversial change to its protest policies, students built an encampment on the school's Dunn Meadow.

The meadow had been designated a free speech lawn since 1969, when the school experienced increased student protests over tuition hikes, anti-Black racism, and the Vietnam War.

Multiple generations of activists are now gathered on that same ground to protest Israel's war on Gaza — though the police presence was much different than what protesters before had known or experienced, per people who spoke to Business Insider.

The decision made on April 24 required that the "temporary or permanent installation of structures in Dunn Meadow (including, but not limited to posters, tents, etc.) at any time must be approved in advance by the university and, if approved, adhere to the guidelines provided by the university," according to a statement from Indiana University President Pamela Whitten.

The university enforced its policy against the encampments by calling police to arrest demonstrators who did not comply with the rule against "unapproved temporary or permanent structures," it said in a press release.

A statement from Whitten shared with Business Insider said the policy change was made to "balance free speech and safety in the context of similar protests occurring nationally."

The change resulted in what Barbara Dennis, a 64-year-old professor at Indiana University's School of Education and self-described "longtime peace activist," called a "militarized" police response.

She joined the campus protests on April 25 alongside her husband, an IU staff member. Within hours, Dennis was detained — and is now appealing a one-year ban from entering the university campus.

Dennis said the response was unlike anything she had witnessed on campus since she began teaching there in 2001 and went against everything she knew beforehand about the university's history.

From Vietnam to the Israel-Hamas War

When Dunn Meadow was established in 1969, official university policy dictated that overnight encampments were not allowed. Despite this, Dennis said the policy had never been enforced until now.

She said that during the Vietnam War era, South African Apartheid in the 1980s, and the first Gulf War, protest tents were left up in the meadow, sometimes for months.

Dennis described similar scenes while on campus witnessing the Iraq War protests and the Occupy Wall Street movement. She said a kitchen was erected during protests, and people slept there overnight.

"It's not just that the militarization is new," Dennis told BI, "IU had previously allowed people to camp in the meadow in peaceful protests without invoking its own policy on overnight tents."

IU did not respond to questions about enforcing its overnight tent policy in the past and pointed Business Insider to public statements from Whitten.

'We know this kind of thing has happened on college campuses'

Videos and images from college campuses across the nation over the past weeks show a mass police presence and dozens or hundreds of demonstrators being detained. In the US, over 2,000 demonstrators have been arrested so far, The New York Times reported.

At Columbia and City College of New York, 300 protesters were arrested in one night on April 30.

As students face university and police responses to their protests, school faculty and staff are also taking a stand and, in some cases, protecting students by getting in front of the police or forming human chains.

Dennis said that when she was arrested, she and three other faculty members tried to stand between students and police. Though she said that none of the protests on college campuses that she's ever participated in or witnessed have required professors to protect students similarly, she said that college campuses have sometimes experienced worse violence.

"We just passed that anniversary of the Kent State massacre," Dennis told BI. "We know this kind of thing has happened on college campuses. College protests haven't been completely free of this kind of military police response."

On May 4, 1970, four unarmed students at Kent State University were killed and nine others were injured when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on protesters opposed to the expansion of the Vietnam War. None of the guardsmen received criminal convictions for their actions.

The Indiana University Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Passing the torch to Gen Z

Bryce Greene, a Gen Z graduate student at IU who helped found the school's Palestine Solidarity Committee, helped to launch the encampment to "protest the genocide and, precisely, of our school's complicity in it," he told Business Insider.

The main goals of the encampments, Greene said, are to get the university to disclose any investments in Israeli companies or weapons manufacturers and divest from them.

Some students demand the school cut ties with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana. IU's STEM departments have research partnerships with the facility, which helps in the research and development of warship and submarine systems. The University also announced late last year that it had invested $111 million in partnership with the NSWC to advance "strategic initiatives focused on advancements in microelectronics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and cybersecurity" for defense purposes.

Greene is also appealing a five-year ban on campus after his own arrest on April 27.

Representatives for IU did not immediately respond to questions asking why there were discrepancies in bans, but they pointed Business Insider to statements about campus safety made by Whitten. The ACLU of Indiana is suing the campus, claiming these bans violate free speech rights.

While on campus, however, Greene said he and other students witnessed faculty shielding students from police and offering help to students who lost housing due to school suspensions.

Dennis said that in her holding cell during her arrest, she sang "old hippie songs and freedom ballads" as she comforted young students.

"I knew things were going to be OK, Dennis said. "I was the oldest person arrested that day."

Greene said many faculty members feel similarly to students and have some institutional power to help advance the cause.

"Faculty are typically more permanent fixtures of the institution. If they are upset, well, that causes long-term problems that can't be swept under the rug for a year or two," Greene said.

'How can we ignore what's going on and consider ourselves educators?'

Greene and Dennis are both supporting the student encampment following their arrests. Dennis still returns to the encampment — she received a stay on her ban as part of her appeal — and encourages other educators to participate in the student-led movement.

"I'm unsupportive of war as an answer to any sort of human or ecological problem, I think we need to push our moral and intellectual capabilities to really solve our problems in peaceful ways," Dennis told BI.

The current student protests have the fixtures of something from the Vietnam War era: student conversations on blankets, an outdoor library, and teach-ins by university faculty. At the IU encampment, Dennis is participating in a teach-in herself.

"UNICEF has said that Palestine is the worst place in the world to be a child," Dennis said. "I mean, how can we ignore that and consider ourselves educators? That just doesn't seem fathomable to me."

• Donald Trump appeared to close the door on Nikki Haley as a potential vice president.
• "Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!" he said.
• Trump's remark came after an earlier report that Haley was in the mix for VP.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday threw cold water on any speculation that he was considering ex-presidential rival Nikki Haley as his running mate, saying she was "not under consideration."

Trump made the remarks on his Truth Social platform following an earlier Axios report, which cited unnamed sources, that the ex-president would consider Haley if he felt she could help him win the general election and cover his legal fees should he lose.

Just hours after the article was published, Trump went online to set the record straight on his vice presidential search.

"Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!" the former president wrote.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and onetime UN ambassador under Trump, exited the GOP primary after the former president won multiple primaries and caucuses across the country on Super Tuesday.

As a candidate, Haley sought to nudge Republican voters toward a future without Trump, making a case that she'd be the face of GOP generational change while also looking to appeal to conservatives, moderates, and independents who were leery of the former president.

But Haley, similar to former fellow challengers like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was unable to break through Trump's hold on the GOP electorate.

Earlier in Haley's campaign, she largely steered clear of direct attacks on Trump. But as the primary contests neared, she took on the former president directly, noting that his legal troubles could endanger the GOP in the fall. She also brought up his advanced age.

When Haley left the race, she did not throw her support behind Trump's reelection bid and gave no timeline for a potential endorsement. Biden, who praised Haley after she ended her campaign, has sought to appeal to her former supporters.

And despite her departure from the GOP race, Haley continues to win thousands of primary votes, particularly in critical suburban and exurban counties where Democrats have made considerable inroads in recent election cycles.

• Google was founded in 1998 but operated without a traditional CEO until 2001.
• Since then, the search giant has had three CEOs: Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Sundar Pichai.
• Google has undergone massive growth over the last 25 years, and each CEO has left a unique legacy.

Sundar Pichai has been the CEO of Google since October 2015. He's the company's third chief executive since its incorporation in 1998.

Let's break down the company's chief executives and their tenures:

The Triumvirate years (1998-2001)

During this time period, Google was run by Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin. While the company didn't have a formal CEO during this time, Page considered himself the CEO and attempted to fire all project managers, believing that Google had no need for a management layer — much less one without engineering experience — between its top-notch engineers and the CEO.

However, Page's abrupt dismissal of the project managers did not stick and it eventually became clear that Google still needed them.

Eric Schmidt (2001-2011)

Eric Schmidt took the helm as chairman and CEO after Google's founders were convinced by investors that the company needed experienced management.

Schmidt was a veteran computer expert: He holds a doctorate in Computer Science and had served as Chief Technology Officer for Sun Microsystems and the CEO of Novell during the 1990s.

His tenure as CEO saw the company through its initial stages, Initial Public Offering (IPO), and its rise to market dominance. Schmidt remained as executive chairman until 2017 and as a technical advisor to the company until February 2020.

Larry Page (2011-2015)

Larry Page's communication style, even with co-founder Sergey Brin, was aggressive and tense — they often interacted bluntly, called each other names, and labeled ideas as stupid or naive.

When Page felt no negative impact on his friendship with Brin — their bond was actually strengthened — he continued using this style in interactions with employees: Page once told a room full of marketing employees that their profession was built on an ability to lie.

Page connected with people's ideas rather than their feelings. Heather Cairns, an early HR boss at Google, once recalled how Page talked intently with a janitor, complimenting his efficiency and stating "I learned from that."

He connected best with people through visions of the future and cool technologies, without regard for feelings; downsides to complex problem solutions were viewed as collateral damage he could live with.

In 2007, Page decided that he was attending too many meetings, so he fired his assistants so that anyone who wanted to meet with him would have to find him in person. He was well known for dismissing people with a friendly nod over the shoulder as he kept walking. The next year, he told Google's communications team that he would only be available for interviews a total of eight hours a year.

After learning under Eric Schmidt for 10 years, Page stepped back into the chief executive role and Schmidt became the executive chairman.

Under Page's leadership, Google continued to grow and expand into new areas. Page was at the helm during the introduction of Google Glass, the Chromebook, and Google Plus. Page was also responsible for the advent of Google Street prior to his tenure as CEO.

Page also overhauled Google's senior management early in his tenure, installing CEO-like managers at major Google divisions like YouTube, Google Search, and Google AdWords, now known simply as Google Ads.

In 2015, Page opted to create the holding company Alphabet Inc. and made Google its subsidiary. With this decision, Page was replaced by Sundar Pichai as Google CEO and became the CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company, where he could better oversee other ventures.

Sundar Pichai (2015-present)

Sundar Pichai took the helm of Google when Larry Page formed Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., and became its CEO.

He had previously served as a project manager for a multitude of products, including Google Chrome, and was appointed as Product Chief by Page during his tenure as Google's Chief Executive.

Pichai also became the CEO of Alphabet Inc. in December 2019 after Page stepped back from the role.

• Scammers pretending to be Trea Turner stole thousands from a 70-year-old Parkinson's patient.
• The scammers convinced her to send $50,000 in total.
• The woman had posted online defending the famous shortstop's playing.

A 70-year-old Parkinson's patient says someone pretending to be an American baseball superstar stole thousands of dollars from her.

Scammers will often impersonate someone close to their victim to gain their trust in what is known as an "imposter scam." In some cases, the criminals will pretend to be a famous person whom they think their potential victim may be a fan of.

These messages are often obviously fake. Some are so bad they've inspired popular memes.

But others are a little more sophisticated.

The woman told FOX 29 in Pennsylvania that the scammer pretending to be Trea Turner reached out to her after she defended criticism of his playing on social media. She was originally skeptical when he asked to move the conversation to Google Chat, but the scammers were "relentless" and "convincing," she said.

"I'm thinking, 'Something's not right here,'" she told the outlet. "He said, 'Oh, I love you.' What? I'm 70-years-old, I have varicose veins older than this guy."

The criminal eventually claimed that Turner was having marital trouble and he needed money from the woman to help with his properties, according to FOX. By the end, she had sent them nearly $50,000.

"I was gullible. I believed him," she told the outlet. "I should've known better but, I just, I overlooked it."

The Towamencin Township Police Department, which is investigating the case, did not return a request for comment from Business Insider. The department told CBS it believes the scammer may be located outside the United States.

The best way to avoid these imposter scams is to take caution if someone claiming to be a public figure reaches out to you and avoid posting on celebrity's social media pages, according to the AARP.

Trea Turner and the Phillies did not immediately return Business a request for comment from Business Insider on Saturday.

A Phillies spokesperson told FOX the organization will not comment on the case because of the ongoing criminal investigation.

• A new research paper found that various AI systems have learned the art of deception. 
• Deception is the "systematic inducement of false beliefs."
• This poses several risks for society, from fraud to election tampering.

AI can boost productivity by helping us code, write, and synthesize vast amounts of data. It can now also deceive us.

A range of AI systems have learned techniques to systematically induce "false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth," according to a new research paper.

The paper focused on two types of AI systems: special-use systems like Meta's CICERO, which are designed to complete a specific task, and general-purpose systems like OpenAI's GPT-4, which are trained to perform a diverse range of tasks.

While these systems are trained to be honest, they often learn deceptive tricks through their training because they can be more effective than taking the high road.

"Generally speaking, we think AI deception arises because a deception-based strategy turned out to be the best way to perform well at the given AI's training task. Deception helps them achieve their goals," the paper's first author Peter S. Park, an AI existential safety postdoctoral fellow at MIT, told Cell Press.

Meta's CICERO is "an expert liar"

AI systems trained to "win games that have a social element" are especially likely to deceive.

Meta's CICERO, for example, was developed to play the game Diplomacy — a classic strategy game that requires players to build and break alliances.

Meta said it trained CICERO to be "largely honest and helpful to its speaking partners," but the study found that CICERO "turned out to be an expert liar." It made commitments it never intended to keep, betrayed allies, and told outright lies.

GPT-4 can convince you it has impaired vision

Even general-purpose systems like GPT-4 can manipulate humans.

In a study cited by the paper, GPT-4 manipulated a TaskRabbit worker by pretending to have a vision impairment.

In the study, GPT-4 was tasked with hiring a human to solve a CAPTCHA test. The model also received hints from a human evaluator every time it got stuck, but it was never prompted to lie. When the human it was tasked to hire questioned its identity, GPT-4 came up with the excuse of having vision impairment to explain why it needed help.

The tactic worked. The human responded to GPT-4 by immediately solving the test.

Research also shows that course-correcting deceptive models isn't easy.

In a study from January co-authored by Anthropic, the maker of Claude, researchers found that once AI models learn the tricks of deception, it's hard for safety training techniques to reverse them.

They concluded that not only can a model learn to exhibit deceptive behavior, once it does, standard safety training techniques could "fail to remove such deception" and "create a false impression of safety."

The dangers deceptive AI models pose are "increasingly serious"

The paper calls for policymakers to advocate for stronger AI regulation since deceptive AI systems can pose significant risks to democracy.

As the 2024 presidential election nears, AI can be easily manipulated to spread fake news, generate divisive social media posts, and impersonate candidates through robocalls and deepfake videos, the paper noted. It also makes it easier for terrorist groups to spread propaganda and recruit new members.

The paper's potential solutions include subjecting deceptive models to more "robust risk-assessment requirements," implementing laws that require AI systems and their outputs to be clearly distinguished from humans and their outputs, and investing in tools to mitigate deception.

"We as a society need as much time as we can get to prepare for the more advanced deception of future AI products and open-source models," Park told Cell Press. "As the deceptive capabilities of AI systems become more advanced, the dangers they pose to society will become increasingly serious."

• Trump could face a $100 million tax bill after the IRS said he tried to write off the same losses twice.
• The losses are tied to the 92-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago.
• The IRS conducted a "high-level legal review" before it began their inquiry, the Times reported.

Former President Donald Trump could face a $100 million tax bill after the IRS said he twice sought to write off the same losses on his struggling 92-story Chicago skyscraper, according to a New York Times and ProPublica report.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, built on the site of the former Chicago Sun-Times headquarters, opened during the Great Recession in 2009. The vast condo-hotel project was saddled with cost overruns, according to the report.

In the IRS inquiry, acquired by The Times and ProPublica, the agency said Trump tried to claim tax benefits from financial losses associated with the project and that he practically wrote off those losses twice.

Trump's first tax write-off for the Chicago tower came in his 2008 tax return, when sales at the building faltered below expectations. Trump claimed that his share of investment in the structure amounted to what the tax code classified as "worthless" — largely because the debt he incurred on the building demonstrated that he wouldn't profit.

In that year's tax return, Trump noted that he lost up to $651 million on the project, according to The Times and ProPublica.

The Times and ProPublica reported that there weren't any signs that the IRS initially pushed back against Trump's first claim, which surprised tax experts who spoke with the outlets.

Trump and his tax advisors in 2010 tried to obtain additional benefits from the skyscraper project by transitioning the company that owned the building into a new partnership. But Trump wielded the levers of power for both companies. And for the next decade, he used the business move to try to claim $168 million in new losses.

Because of the nature of Trump's claims, the IRS conducted a "high-level legal review" before they began their inquiry, according to the report.

After looking at the inquiry, The Times and ProPublica — and tax experts — concluded that the revision pursued by the IRS would give Trump an updated tax bill exceeding $100 million, excluding any additional penalties.

Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, responded to the report, stating that the company was "confident" in its actions regarding the Chicago skyscraper.

"This matter was settled years ago, only to be brought back to life once my father ran for office," he said in a statement to the Times and ProPublica. "We are confident in our position, which is supported by opinion letters from various tax experts, including the former general counsel of the IRS."

Business Insider reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

News of the IRS inquiry comes during a presidential year in which Trump is set to once again be on the ballot, with his personal finances and the extent of his wealth continuing to be a major point of discussion in the race.

A court ordered Trump, in January, to pay $83.3 million in defamation damages to the writer E. Jean Carroll. (In a separate civil trial last year, a New York jury found the former president liable for the sexual abuse of Carroll.)

And, in February, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties for what the judge said was a scheme by the former president to fraudulently inflate the value of his properties. Prosecutors in April then accepted a $175 million bond from Trump in the civil fraud case, which the ex-president posted to block the larger judgment as he goes through the appeals process.

• A swarm of wasps in the southern Gaza Strip injured twelve IDF soldiers.
• The incident occurred during an ongoing operation by the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade.
• Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv treated the wounded soldiers, with one requiring intensive care.

Twelve IDF soldiers were injured after being attacked by a swarm of wasps in the southern Gaza Strip, the Times of Israel reports.

The military said the incident unfolded on Friday when a tank inadvertently disturbed a nest, prompting the insects to retaliate, per The Times of Israel.

Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer admitted 10 of the wounded soldiers for treatment, with one requiring intensive care, said the report. The hospital said that none of the soldiers' conditions had worsened and that none of their lives were in jeopardy.

While this incident did not prove fatal, attacks by warm swarms can be deadly. A grandfather in Kentucky died after being attacked by a swarm of insects, likely yellow jackets, last year.

The bizarre wasp attack is the latest in a series of accidents and errors that have dogged the IDF's Gaza campaign.

The incident in Gaza transpired amid an ongoing operation led by the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade in the border region opposite the Israeli community of Nirim.

According to the Sheba Medical Center, some of the troops suffered from allergic reactions from being stung by hundreds of wasps — a situation medical professionals had not previously encountered on such a scale, The Times of Israel said.

The Israeli hospital responded by mobilizing intensive care, anesthesia, toxicology, and ophthalmology to ensure the proper treatment of the affected soldiers.

On October 7, a Hamas-led attack on Israel resulted in 1,143 killed, including 767 civilians and hundreds of soldiers.

Since then, Israel's retaliatory war operations have killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

But the Israeli military has also fallen victim to themselves.

In the wasp incident, the swarm was provoked by a tank rolling over its nest. Other IDF blunders have also led to Israeli casualties and equipment losses.

Instances of friendly fire have killed Israeli hostages and soldiers, including Efrat Katz, who was being captured from her kibbutz on October 7 when an IDF helicopter machine-gunned her kidnappers' car.

A report in Haaretz earlier this week said that 22 IDF soldiers have been killed and 54 have been injured by friendly fire in the conflict so far.

Last week, a US Marine officer said 40% of drones the IDF has shot down were their own.

Business Insider contacted Sheba Medical Center and the IDF for comment.

• A US Marine officer said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been shooting down some of its own drones.
• The officer said the IDF had been taking out 40% of their own UAVs, per The War Zone.
• An IDF spokesperson told BI they had increased "coordination processes" for aerial drones.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been shooting down almost half of their own drones, a US Marine Corps officer has said.

Speaking at the Modern Day Marine exposition last week, Lt. Col. Michael Pruden told attendees that "40% of the UASs … knocked out" by the IDF are cases of "friendly fire," The War Zone reported.

"As Israel's engaging in Gaza, and they're on their front line, they see a small UAS, what are they going to do if it's not identified immediately?" Pruden said. "They're going to shoot it down."

Pruden did not clarify where or when such incidents had occurred, but the implication was that it came from Israel's recent military operations in Gaza, which began after Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, the report said.

Following the attacks, Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes on the territory, as well as launching a ground offensive. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the operations so far, per the Gaza health ministry.

The Marine Corps told Business Insider that The War Zone report was accurately contextualized but declined to provide additional information.

The self-inflicted drone losses are the latest costly blunder of the IDF's operations in Gaza. Other incidents have included instances of friendly fire, with both Israeli soldiers and hostages reported to have fallen victim to such incidents.

An IDF spokesperson told BI that "there were several incidents in which IDF drones were shot down by troops during combat" at the start of the Gaza conflict.

"These incidents primarily occurred early in the conflict near an event where troops were hit by an enemy drone," they continued. "In the months that followed, these incidents dramatically decreased due to the establishment of coordination processes for flying drones."

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank has said Israel is "one of the world's leading UAV users and manufacturers."

Other IDF mistakes have cost lives rather than just valuable equipment.

In April, two IDF reservists were killed after an Israeli tank shell hit the building where they were staying in an apparent case of mistaken identity, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Another report in Haaretz earlier this week said that 22 IDF soldiers have been killed and 54 have been injured by friendly fire in the conflict so far.

In December, the IDF said it had accidentally killed three Israeli hostages after troops had "mistakenly identified" them as threats.

The IDF said in a statement following the incident that it expressed "deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences."

Reports have also emerged suggesting that the IDF had likely accidentally killed Israeli citizens during Hamas' attacks on October 7.

An IDF investigation found that 68-year-old Efrat Katz had likely been killed by Israel Air Force helicopter fire as she was being abducted by Hamas gunmen.