There was no publicly available timeline for when Microsoft would offload its AnyVision stake, a spokesperson told Reuters.

AnyVision had been accused of using facial recognition to surveil Palestinians around the West Bank, contradicting Microsoft's promise to avoid any uses of the tech that impinged on democratic freedoms. However, an audit found no evidence of the claimed mass surveillance system and suggested the tech was limited to border crossings as AnyVision said. Microsoft is backing out to avoid future accusations where there are clear privacy breaches.

It doesn't help that facial recognition startups have drawn fire as of late. Clearview AI, for instance, has been attacked for a system that links faces in security footage to online presences, potentially enabling abuses of power that strip people of anonymity when in public. Although Microsoft is less likely to be embroiled in those kinds of scandals due to its principles, companies like Clearview serve as warnings of what could go wrong.