Microsoft employees have interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebrations at its Washington headquarters, with one yelling at former company CEOs Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, and current Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman while they were all on stage.
Vaniya Agrawal, a software engineer in the company’s artificial intelligence division, interrupted the CEOs while they were chatting on stage in Redmond, Washington on Friday.
A post shared by The Verge — "Shame on you all. You’re all hypocrites," she said before another woman immediately began escorting her out.
"Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood. Cut ties with Israel."
Agrawal also mentioned the No Azure for Apartheid group, started among Microsoft employees to call on the company to end "direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide."
At least one person in the room booed her, and videos taken from inside the event show Gates chuckling following the interruption, saying, "alright" before returning to the discussion that was underway.
In a statement to USA TODAY, a Microsoft spokesperson who declined to be named said that any protests should not "cause a business disruption."
"We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption," they said.
"If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards."
The spokesperson did not respond to the specific allegations from Agrawal.
Earlier on Friday, another employee, Ibtihal Aboussad, stood up as Suleyman was talking on stage, calling him a "war profiteer."
Aboussad also sent an email to Microsoft executives explaining the reasons behind her protest on Friday, according to CNBC and The Verge.
"I spoke up today because after learning that my org was powering the genocide of my people in Palestine, I saw no other moral choice," she said.
"For the past year and a half, our Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim community at Microsoft has been silenced, intimidated, harassed, and doxxed with impunity from Microsoft."
Suleyman responded to Aboussad's protest by saying: "Thank you, I hear your protest." She responded: "You do not hear us."
Colonel Racheli Dembinsky, commander of Israeli army's Center of Computing and Information Systems Unit, reveals use of cloud storage and AI services during a presentation to around 100 military and industrial personnel, reports say.
Apart from the protests inside the event, a larger rally organised by the same No Azure for Apartheid group was being staged outside.
Protest letter: 'I’ve decided to leave Microsoft'
Agrawal also sent a mass email to company employees saying that her last day at Microsoft is April 11, as well as noting the reason for her protest, according to The Verge.
"I cannot, in good conscience, be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice," she wrote.
"I find it more and more difficult to continue giving my time, energy, and care to a company that is on the wrong side of history ... Microsoft leadership must divest from Israel and stop selling lethal technology to power apartheid and genocide."
What is Microsoft's involvement with Israel?
In the wake of Hamas raid on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli military's use of Microsoft Azure and OpenAI has skyrocketed, according to an Associated Press investigation published in February.
Tel Aviv is using technology from the companies to sift through intelligence, intercept communications and surveillance, identify suspicious speech and "learn the movements of its enemies," AP reported.
An investigation by The Guardian in January reached similar conclusions about what it describes as Microsoft's deep ties with Israel.
Microsoft declined to comment on either agency's investigations, including not responding to AP's "detailed list of written questions about the cloud and AI services it provides to the Israeli military."
