Protesters push Portland to investigate firm that appears to supply drone tech to Israel

Anti-war activists in Portland, Oregon, are pushing city authorities to ensure no local resources, tax breaks or investments support a local company that appears to be supplying artificial intelligence software to the Israeli military.

The company, Sightline Intelligence, manufactures AI-supported video technology that is used in drones to interpret target movements and make quick decisions based on the perceived threat level. Cargo documents appear to show Sightline has shipped its technology to Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer that provides drones to that country’s military and exports to others. The activists argue that such sales violate the UN’s arms agreements.

It is unclear whether Sightline receives any resources or business incentives from the city of Portland, and finding out is the first step activists want local leaders to take. The activists are ultimately hoping their efforts can block the sales altogether.

In the face of consistent federal funding and support for Israel’s military operations, the activists argue that slowing the sale of components used by the Israeli military on the local level may be a more effective strategy.

Olivia Katbi, a political organizer in Portland, argued that international law called for an embargo on imports and exports, including any technology, equipment or other parts used in weapons. She said the Sightline video processors fitted that definition, and if the federal government won’t stop their sale, the city should do everything in its power to disrupt the process.

“It is showing images of people to kill,” Katbi said. “And that is what these drones do. They kill people.”

Makayla Thomas, a spokesperson for Sightline, said the company did not comment on specific customer relationships or deployments, adding that it complied with all applicable laws and regulations governing its business.

Sightline promotional videos show how its AI technology is used to recognize potential targets. Neon triangles hover over military vehicles, boats and people in fields, marking in real time the type of target and how accurate its assessment is. Drones enhanced with Sightline’s aided target recognition software detect, classify and track targets, according to its website.

Thomas said the company’s software had a range of applications, including search and rescue, disaster response, infrastructure monitoring and counter-drone operations to assist in more-informed decision making.

An analysis of leaked cargo documents by Movement Research Unit, a London-based volunteer research organization, appears to show Sightline’s AI video processing boards and other components shipped to Elbit Systems in Karmiel, Israel, on multiple occasions since 2024.

The cargo tracking documents show Sightline video equipment arrived at Elbit’s facility in Karmiel on 28 December 2024; 14 March 2025; 4 September 2025; and 20 October 2025, Movement Research Unit says.

Roughly 85% of drones used by the Israeli military are manufactured by Elbit, and the Israeli army has used Elbit’s armed drones in its daily surveillance and attacks on Gaza, according to 2023 reporting by Al Jazeera.

Last year, half of the members of Portland city council took a symbolic pledge to investigate the manufacturing and transport of weapons for Israel’s military within its city limits.

Tiffany Koyama Lane, one of the six councilors who signed the pledge, said she had heard “alarming concerns” about Sightline from constituents and felt a sense of urgency. Angelita Morillo, a councilor who also signed the pledge, said the information that surfaced about Sightline was exactly the kind of activity the pledge contemplated.

“AI target recognition technologies might be built and tested abroad, but they always end up at our doorstep,” Morillo said. “The same class of tools implicated in human rights violations against civilians in Gaza and protesters can be turned on Portlanders.”

Concern over the use of the technology within the US was partly intensified by a Sightline promotional video that showed its technology, edited alongside footage of an aerial tramway at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), a local hospital. An OHSU spokesperson said the hospital had no relationship with the company and did not facilitate any filming for the advertisement. The city’s transportation bureau, which manages the tram, also said it did not give permission for filming.

Morillo said the promotional video suggested the risk of the same surveillance tools being used on Portlanders was not merely hypothetical, and the city should use its authority to regulate AI companies’ use of the right of way, enforce remote aircraft laws and further increase the city’s buying and contract standards to ensure it does not support human rights violations.

Sightline removed the clip from its advertisement at OHSU’s request, after about 50 people demonstrated near Sightline’s Portland office. Thomas said the company did not conduct targeted video collection from specific communities or locations to develop its AI models, and its marketing materials, including footage of the OHSU tram, were not used for model training, data collection or object classification.

“It was intended to demonstrate how our software can enhance and process video; not to represent a specific deployment or partnership,” Thomas said.

Portlanders are not alone in pressuring local governments to use what levers they have to limit cooperation between US companies and the Israeli military, and to hold companies working with the Israeli military accountable. In late 2024, California’s Alameda county board sold $32m in bonds it had in Caterpillar, which sells bulldozers to the Israeli military, followed by approval of an “ethical investment policy” in 2025 that would begin to divest money from similar companies.

Katbi, the organizer, sees action on Sightline as a step toward similar aims. “We’re a step beyond just going to protest outside of a building,” Katbi said.

Elbit, the Israeli arms manufacturer that received Sightline’s technology, generated $7.9bn in revenue in 2025, up 16% from 2024, according to its 2025 financial reports. The company carries more than $28bn in backlog orders, with Israel representing 28% of those orders. That may bring an opportunity for components manufacturers like Sightline to increase sales.

Bezhalel Machlis, Elbit’s president and CEO, said in an investor conference call this March that business was growing. Israel’s war on Gaza increased investor profit through 2025, and Machlis said the company expected an increase in revenue by scaling up production to meet elevated demands as the US and Israel surge into Iran and Lebanon.

“As in the Middle East, as one conflict ends, another begins,” Machlis told investors.

Senator Ron Wyden, of Oregon, who sits on the Senate intelligence committee, said in a statement that he was attentive to the broader issue of privacy.

“As a privacy hawk, I’m always concerned about the prospect of surveillance tools designed for use overseas – AI or otherwise – boomeranging back to violate Americans’ constitutional privacy rights here at home,” Wyden said.

In his years in the Senate, Wyden has consistently supported legislation to send arms to Israel, and has also co-sponsored legislation to block boycotts of Israel over its military objectives. Wyden was one of 40 senators who changed course on 15 April, voting to block the sales of military equipment to Israel, and wants to reform section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows intelligence agencies to collect and share foreign intelligence, but has expanded under the Trump administration. Congress on 30 April passed a 45-day extension of FISA without reforms.

This story was co-published with the Portland Mercury