Microsoft employee disrupts Satya Nadella’s Build conference keynote
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Summary
During Microsoft’s Build developer conference in Seattle, Washington, one of the company’s employees protested against its deals with the Israeli government relating to cloud and AI services.
The employee shouted “Free Palestine” as CEO Satya Nadella was speaking.
The protesting employee, Joe Lopez, later sent an email to thousands of Microsoft employees, criticising Nadella’s lack of commentary on the issue.
Lopez accused Microsoft of having “allowed the Israel Ministry of Defense ‘special access’ to its technologies” beyond the scope of commercial agreements.
He also accused the company of having the power to “demand an end to this tragedy” but failing to do so.
No Azure for Apartheid, a group consisting of current and former Microsoft employees, has rallied against the company’s commercial relationship with Israel, claiming it is violating human rights.