Thought Leadership
Microsoft has fired two employees after they disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations with protests against military cooperation with Israel.
That’s according to communications from a group representing the laid-off workers, the Associated Press reports.
Incidents during the event
On Friday, software developer Ibtihal Aboussad interrupted a presentation by AI boss Mustafa Suleyman. She accused the company of supplying AI technology to the Israeli military and thus being involved in acts of war: “You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” Aboussad shouted at Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. “Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.” She also threw a keffiyeh scarf on stage, which has become a symbol of support for the Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event. The live broadcast had to be paused.
In a second incident, another Microsoft employee, Vaniya Agrawal, disrupted another part of the event. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer were among those present at the high-profile ceremony.
Reasons for the terminations
In a letter of dismissal, Microsoft described the behavior of one of the protesters as “designed to attract attention and cause maximum disruption”. The company emphasized that there are appropriate internal channels for raising concerns.
Aboussad received notice of termination without notice on Monday. Agrawal, who had already resigned herself and would actually have been employed until April 11, was informed that her termination would be implemented “with immediate effect”.
Background to the protests
The activists criticize the provision of the Microsoft cloud platform Azure to Israeli authorities. An Associated Press investigation had previously revealed that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI were used to select targets for attack as part of an Israeli military program.
The “No Azure for Apartheid” group had already protested against this collaboration in the past. In February, five Microsoft employees were expelled from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella after protesting there.
