A presentation by the CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, was interrupted by a Microsoft employee protesting against Microsoft's partnership in the murder of Palestinians in Gaza."
The incident occurred during a ceremony marking 50 years since the founding of Microsoft. Mustafa had just begun his speech when suddenly a company employee, Ibtihal Abusad, burst towards the stage, accusing Suleiman and Microsoft’s leaders of complicity in the murder of Palestinians due to sharing artificial intelligence with Israel and the IDF.
"Shame on you,” said Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.”
Mustafa paused his speech during the employee's outburst and said, "Thank you for your protest, I hear you."
While security personnel escorted her out of the hall, Abusad continued to shout that Mustafa has blood on his hands, as does all of Microsoft. She also threw a cake in the direction of the stage.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and current CEO Satya Nadella were present at the time. Later in the ceremony, another incident occurred when another Microsoft employee, Anya Agrawal, interrupted the ceremony again while Microsoft leaders were sitting on stage.
The protest took place after the news agency AP published a few weeks ago that Microsoft’s AI models are being used by the IDF to select targets for attacks in Gaza.