Particle.news
Download on the App Store
17 ARTICLES
·
59m ago

Microsoft Faces Employee Protest Over AI Contracts With Israeli Military at Build 2025

Engineer Joe Lopez disrupted Satya Nadella's keynote, reigniting calls for transparency and ethical accountability in Microsoft's military partnerships.

Image
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the Microsoft Build conference at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
Image
The Microsoft Headquarters campus is pictured July 17, 2014 in Redmond, Wash. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Overview

  • Microsoft engineer Joe Lopez interrupted CEO Satya Nadella's keynote at Build 2025, accusing the company of enabling Israeli military actions in Gaza through its Azure and AI technologies.
  • The protest was organized by No Azure for Apartheid, a worker-led group demanding an end to Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military and greater transparency into the use of its technologies.
  • Microsoft recently confirmed supplying Azure and AI services to the Israel Ministry of Defense, citing internal and external reviews that found no evidence of misuse, though the company admitted limited visibility into customer deployments.
  • Investigations, including by the Associated Press, reported extensive use of Microsoft's AI services by the Israeli military for combat intelligence and airstrike targeting since October 2023.
  • This latest protest follows a series of employee-led demonstrations and firings over Microsoft's military contracts, reflecting ongoing tensions between leadership and activists within the company.