Microsoft’s 50th anniversary event held at its registered office in Redmond, Washington, was disrupted by the demonstrations of two employees who criticized the company’s participation in Israeli military operations. The demonstrations, which took place last week, were led by Ibtihal Aboussad and the Indian origin Vaniya Agrawal, accusing Microsoft of providing IA technologies to Israel.
During a presentation of Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, Ibtihal Aboussad interrupted, declaring: “Mustafa, shame on you”, as the scene approaches. Aboussad also accused Suleyman of being a “war profiteer” for the role of Microsoft in the activation of military actions through his technologies. Suleyman recognized the demonstration with: “Thank you for your demonstration, I hear you:” Before Aboussad was escorted.
In a separate incident, Agrawal faced current and ancient CEO of Microsoft, including Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. AGRAWAL said: “50,000 Palestinians in Gaza were murdered with Microsoft technology. How dares to all of you for celebrating their blood.” She called Microsoft to break her ties with Israel in the middle of the continuous conflict in Gaza.
AGRAWAL announced its resignation in an email on a company level, declaring its inability to stay with a company whose work “allowed a genocide by Israel”. His resignation was stimulated by an Associated Press survey revealing a $ 133 million contract between Microsoft and the Ministry of Defense of Israel, with Microsoft Azure and IA tools that would have been used for military surveillance.
Microsoft did not officially comment on the accusations or resignations of Aboussad and Agrawal. The company has expressed that it supports the expression of employees, provided that it does not disturb commercial operations. However, the two employees would have lost access to their work accounts following demonstrations, suggesting potential repercussions on employment.
The demonstrations highlight increasing tensions within technological companies concerning ethical responsibilities and international conflicts. Microsoft, while presenting the progress of AI and technology during the event, faced an important narrative change due to these protests.
Despite these disruptions, the event continued with a round table featuring Nadella, Ballmer and Gates, who took over without tackling the demonstration. The incident triggered broader discussions on businesses in military commitments and the ethical implications for the use of technology.
