Microsoft Employees Protest Over Israel Military Contract

Post by: Omar Nasser

Photo : Instagram 

A protest by Microsoft workers in support of Palestine interrupted the company's 50th anniversary event on Friday. This protest is part of a larger protest against the company’s involvement in providing technology to the Israeli military.

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The protest started when Mustafa Suleyman, the head of Microsoft’s AI team, was speaking about the company’s new AI assistant, Copilot. He was talking to a crowd that included Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ibtihal Aboussad, a Microsoft worker, shouted “Mustafa, shame on you!” and walked toward the stage. Suleyman paused his speech. Aboussad said that Microsoft is helping the Israeli military by providing them with AI tools. She accused the company of supporting the killing of 50,000 people. She shouted that Microsoft had blood on its hands and threw a keffiyeh scarf, which is a symbol of support for Palestinians, onto the stage. Security escorted her out of the event.

Another Microsoft worker, Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted the event later on, while Gates, Ballmer, and current CEO Satya Nadella were speaking. This was the first time since 2014 that all three CEOs were together on stage.

Earlier this year, an investigation showed that AI from Microsoft and another company, OpenAI, was used by the Israeli military to help choose bombing targets in recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. One of these attacks accidentally killed three young girls and their grandmother in Lebanon in 2023.

Earlier this year, five Microsoft workers were kicked out of a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the company’s business with the Israeli military. But Friday’s protest was more public because it happened during a live stream of the event. Some workers also protested outside.

Microsoft said in a statement that it allows everyone to express their views, but they want protests to be peaceful and not cause problems for the business. The company said that if protests cause a disruption, they want those involved to move away. Microsoft also said it works hard to follow good business practices.

Microsoft has not said yet if they will take further action. Aboussad said she and Agrawal can no longer access their work accounts after the protest, which might mean they have been fired. Neither worker has heard from Microsoft about what will happen next.

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