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. “50,000 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.
