Microsoft employees disrupt 50th anniversary party over Israel contract
Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration on Friday was interrupted by pro-Palestine protesting employees over the company’s connections to Israel.
"You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide," Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad shouted while AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman delivered a speech to an audience that included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
"Mustafa, shame on you," Aboussad said as she walked toward the stage. "Fifty thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.
"Thank you for your protest, I hear you," Suleyman responded. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and "all of Microsoft" had blood on their hands before being escorted out of the event.
The protest at the event in Redmond, Washington, marks the latest criticism of the tech industry's involvement in providing artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military.
Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal also interrupted another part of the event during which Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer and current CEO Satya Nadella were on stage.
Since launching its devastating war on Gaza, Israel’s military has significantly expanded its reliance on AI and cloud computing, pouring resources into technologies from Google and Microsoft.
In a report earlier this year, +972 Magazine found that Microsoft has a "footprint" in Israel's military operations, with its cloud and AI services seeing a massive surge in sales to the Israeli army since the assault on Gaza began.
The tech giant reportedly has a "footprint in all major military infrastructures" in Israel.
An investigation by the Associated Press in February also revealed that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI were utilised in an Israeli military programme to help select bombing targets during conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
AP's report also included details of an Israeli air strike in 2023 that hit a vehicle carrying a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother. The target of the strike is believed to have been pinpointed by AI.
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