A video of a woman interrupting Microsoft’s 50th anniversary kickoff event began circulating Friday.
The protest, led by a pro-Palestinian activist, took place during a presentation by Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of artificial intelligence, as he gave an overview of his progress in the field.
Among those present were Bill Gates, co-founder of the company, and former CEO Steve Ballmer.
“Shame on you, Mustafa!”
During the event, Suleyman detailed updates on the Copilot AI assistant and the company’s future vision for artificial intelligence.
It was at this point that Ibtihal Aboussad interrupted the presentation, accusing the company of selling AI weapons to the Israeli military.
“Mustafa, shame on you,” Aboussad shouted. “You claim to care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” she added.
Noting that 50,000 people have died as a result of these contracts, which she described as genocide.
More Employees Speak Out and Resign
The protester wasn’t the only one to express her discontent; approximately 30 Microsoft employees also joined the protest; the 50th anniversary event, which celebrated the company’s past and future, was interrupted on several occasions.
Vaniya Agrawal, another employee, also stood up during the event to direct her criticism at Gates, Ballmer, and Nadella. Agrawal accused the company of being complicit in the Palestinian genocide, claiming that 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed using Gates technology.
After the protest, he sent an email to his colleagues announcing his resignation, with his last day scheduled for April 11.
In her message, Agrawal explained that she could no longer work for a company that, according to her, “is complicit in the Palestinian genocide” through its contracts with the Israeli government.
“The work we are doing is fueling a regime of apartheid and genocide,” wrote Agrawal, who also denounced Israel’s war crimes in Gaza
He called on his colleagues not to remain silent in the face of this situation and to demand that the company cut ties with the Israeli regime.
Official Response from Microsoft
The protest, although disruptive, was responded to by Suleyman with remarkable calm: “Thank you for your protest, I am listening.”
However, the protester went on to accuse Microsoft of having “blood on its hands,” referring to the company’s military contracts.
Following the protest, the company issued a statement acknowledging the incident, but stressed that “we provide many avenues for all voices to be heard.”
They also stressed the importance of ensuring the protests did not interfere with business and asked participants to move if the presentation was disrupted. The company did not specify whether they would take further action regarding the protests.
The link to the attacks in Gaza and Lebanon
The incident is related to an Associated Press investigation that revealed that Microsoft and OpenAI had provided AI models that were part of an Israeli military program.
The same investigation detailed a failed airstrike in 2023 that killed several people, including three young girls and their grandmother.
This isn’t the first episode of protests at Microsoft. In February of this year, several employees were removed from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella due to their protests against contracts with the Israeli military.
Although this incident was internal, the protest at Friday’s event was much more visible, given that the event was broadcast live.
“I’d rather lose my job than write code that kills Palestinians.”
Aboussad, one of the protest organizers and a company employee, said employees had previously attempted to speak out through emails and internal petitions, but Microsoft executives ignored their complaints.
“We refuse to write code that kills Palestinians,” Aboussad told EFE. “Nothing works, so this was our moment to send a loud and clear message: we have nothing to celebrate while people in Palestine are being killed thanks to Microsoft technology,” the 25-year-old engineer added.
Aboussad also expressed his lack of fear of retaliation, despite the possibility of losing his job. “They could come after me, but I think the fear of that retaliation doesn’t outweigh the fear of working on a technology that harms innocent people,” he said, making it clear that his protest is an act of conscience.