A Chinese company’s publication of AI-enhanced satellite images of US bases in the Middle East is helping Iranian forces identify targets, US intelligence believes.

The ABC has been briefed on the intelligence by a source inside US defence, who says the images are endangering lives.

Chinese geospatial artificial intelligence and software company MizarVision, which the Chinese government has a small ownership stake in, has been publishing detailed satellite images with tagging data of multiple US military sites in the lead-up to, and during, the Iran war.

The imagery showcases an AI tool that identifies and tags military forces across vast areas, a capability that once required the resources of a national intelligence agency.

  • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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    5 hours ago

    The USA already doesn’t have a win condition, but the only way for longterm stability would be something like Iran getting EU membership which isn’t on the table. The solution with the least harm would be for the USA and other NATO allies to help the Iranians overthrow the despots and cut ties with China. The worst possible outcome is like 40% of Iranians die, Israel claims land, and the IRGC stays in power, which is pretty close to your idea of the best outcome.

    • Rimu@piefed.social
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      2 hours ago

      help the Iranians overthrow the despots

      The time to do that was before bombing hundreds of Iranian children. And civilian infrastructure. Way too late now.

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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        17 minutes ago

        Are you expecting me to defend the Trump Admin? It’s never too late so long as the IRGC holds power, but yes he’s made it a lot harder for us to accomplish positive change.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      The solution with the least harm would be for the USA and other NATO allies to help the Iranians overthrow the despots and cut ties with China.

      Disagree. A democratic Iran with 90 million population, and presumably no sanctions, is a growth powerhouse that produces loads of things, among which loads of weapons. For Israel’s security apparatus, that’s a country one “bad” election away from launching a lot more weapons at them. That’s something which Israel will not let stand. Which is also why they are so obviously not going for regime change but instead for inducing a failed state that’s ungovernable, can’t organize production, won’t have sanctions lifted, would perpetually have insurgency that can be bombed at will, or in technical terms mow the lawn.

      There’s no outcome other than diminished US or Israeli power, or both, that would produce stability in the region given Israel’s ambitions and US interests in the region.

      As for the Iranian people, their only hope for better life can come from internal struggle against their gov’t over time that would be made a whole lot easier if their economic situation is made better through lifting of sanctions, or if sanctions remain - through massively increased trade with China. (Cause the more resources people have, the more they have left to organize as change does not come through magic and spontaneous revolutions are a fantasy.) If the EU is smart, they would drop their sanctions against Iran. Which is actually plausible if more shit keeps hitting the fan and their oil supply does not resume, which could force them to break ranks with the US on this.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      4 hours ago

      The solution with the least harm would be for the USA and other NATO allies to help the Iranians overthrow the despots and cut ties with China.

      Only if you don’t take into account harm for Iranians in your idea of “harm.” What you’re describing is basically what happened in Libya.

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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        3 hours ago

        Iranians were starving and being shot to death in the streets even before the war, continuing the war until the USA admits defeat will also lead to undue suffering. The only system of representing Iranian citizens is a democracy which is the furthest from their current organization.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          3 hours ago

          Are you not capable of learning from history? Again, you could’ve said the same thing about Libya. Does Libya in 2026 look like a thriving democracy to you? Then why do you want to do the same thing in Iran?

          • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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            2 hours ago

            Revolution does not always result in democracy, but democracy is still the best system for protecting health and happiness of the majority of people.

            Libya now is still better off than Libya under Gaddafi.

            • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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              1 hour ago

              Libya now is still better off than Libya under Gaddafi.

              What the actual fuck. Holy dear Jesus. That’s a wild take if I ever saw one.

            • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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              2 hours ago

              What. The. Fuck? Libya under Gaddafi didn’t have fucking slave markets you can’t be fucking serious. Also foreign countries dropping bombs isn’t a “revolution” anymore than Soviet-backed regimes in Eastern Europe were revolutionary.