Celebrations 50. The anniversary of Microsoft in Washington 4.
“Shame for all of you” – employee confronts Gates, Ballmer and Nadella
The indication-American software engineer Vaniya Agrawal faced former and current CEOs of Microsoft Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Satya Nadella during the panel.
“50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered by Microsoft technology. How do you dare. Shame for all of you to celebrate their blood,” Agrawal shouted.
She condemned Microsoft a reported cloud contract of $ 133 million and AI with the Ministry of Defense of Israel and accused the company of allowing genocide in Gaza.
The resignation letter circulates internally
Shortly after the protest Agrawal, Agrawal sent an e-mail with the allocation that announced its resignation, with the effectiveness of April 11. In e-mail, access to Verge, Tech News Web, she said, “I can’t, with a good conscience, to be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice.”
She referred to the reports that Microsoft Azure and AI technology supported military operations and supervision of the Israeli and added that “our work powers this genocide”.
Agrawal called Microsoft a “digital weapon manufacturer” and accused the company of breaching its own human rights obligations. “Microsoft management must be discouraged from Israel and stop selling deadly technology to drive apartheid and genocide,” she wrote.
Employee Final words: “Palestine FREE”
Agrawal closed its resignation letter by calling for an event and encouraging colleagues to use their positions to attack Microsoft principles: “If you still have to work in Microsoft, I invite you to use your position, power and privilege to hold Microsoft for your own values and missions.”
She ended her comment simply: “Goodbye and Free Palestine.”
The first disruption came during the presentation of the CEO Microsoft AI Mustafa Suleyman, who discussed the AI assistant Copilot. Ibtihal Abyssad, an employee of Microsoft, stood up and accused Suleyman of “war profit”.
“Microsoft technology is used to commit genocide actions,” he said to the Shoots and eyewitnesses. Suleyman replied, “Thank you for the protest, I hear you,” before being accompanied by the venue.
Later he claimed that after the protest he lost access to his work account, according to Reuters report.
Microsoft does not comment on resignation of employees
Microsoft did not publicly respond to the resignation of employees or accusations raised on the anniversary.
While the company introduced its progress in AI and productivity instructions during the celebration, the protests forced a sharp shift in tone.
Also read | Bill Gates thinks about the path of Microsoft because he commemorates it 50. Anniversary
Background: Escalation of conflicts and humanitarian crisis
The last phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in October 2023 after a deadly attack on Hamas on Israel, which killed 1200 people and led to more than 250 hostages. Since then, the Israeli military reaction has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians according to Gazan’s health authorities.
The war internally displaced almost all 2.3 million inhabitants in Gaza and created a deepening humanitarian crisis. Israel denies charges of genocide and war crimes and claims that his actions focus on Hamas militants.
Also read | “Happy 50. Birthday”: Bill Gates thanks to Microsoft for “Awkward Photos” | Watch (Tagstotranslate) Microsoft 50. Anniversary (T) Pro-Palestinian protest
