Microsoft employees protest at 50th anniversary party over Israel contract

The Microsoft campus in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan 28, 2025. Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on January 29. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

A pro-Palestinian protest by Microsoft employees interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration Friday, the latest backlash over the tech industry’s work to supply artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military.

The first protest happened as Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was presenting product updates and a long-term vision for the company’s AI assistant product, Copilot, to an audience that included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

It follows a February protest that led Microsoft to eject five employees from a meeting with the company’s CEO Satya Nadella.

Article by Matt O’brien.