“Free, Free Palestine”: Microsoft’s Build 2025 conference disrupted for second day in a row; “Jay! My people…,” shouts developer
A Palestinian tech worker interrupted Microsoft executive Jay Parikh‘s keynote presentation at the company’s Build 2025 developer conference in Seattle, marking the second consecutive day of pro-Palestine protests at the event.“Jay! My people are suffering!” the protester shouted at Parikh, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of CoreAI, during his presentation on Azure AI technology. “Cut ties! No Azure for apartheid! Free, free Palestine!”Security personnel quickly escorted the demonstrator from the venue as he continued calling for Microsoft to end its contracts with the Israeli government.
CEO Nadella faced similar protest during Build’s opening day
The disruption follows Tuesday’s protest during CEO Satya Nadella‘s keynote address, when Microsoft firmware engineer Joe Lopez stood on his chair and shouted, “Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? How about you show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?”Both protests were coordinated by No Azure for Apartheid, an activist group opposing Microsoft’s cloud computing contracts with Israel. Hossam Nasr, an organizer with the group, confirmed to media outlets that they assisted the unnamed Palestinian tech worker but declined to reveal his identity.This isn’t the first incident when Microsoft event have been portested. Earlier this year, in April, two employees disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration with similar protests and were subsequently fired.Following the protest during CEO Nadella’s keynote, Lopez emailed thousands of Microsoft colleagues urging them to speak out against the company’s Israeli partnerships, writing, “If we continue to remain silent, we will pay for that silence with our humanity.”
Microsoft says its technologies hasn’t been used to harm people in Gaza
Microsoft published a blog post last week stating that an internal review conducted with assistance from a third-party firm found “no evidence that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”The company described its relationship with Israel’s Ministry of Defense as “a standard commercial relationship” and maintained that it complies with all terms of service and AI ethics guidelines.
