At Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration on Friday, the mood shifted dramatically when a company employee disrupted the event to protest Microsoft’s involvement in Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The demonstration took place while Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, was presenting updates on the company’s AI assistant, Copilot, at its headquarters.

Videos circulating online show Ibtihal Aboussad, a Microsoft employee, standing up during Suleyman’s speech and walking toward the stage. “Mustafa, shame on you,” she shouted, accusing Microsoft of aiding the Israeli military with AI-powered technologies. “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region,” she declared. Before being escorted out, she threw a keffiyeh scarf onto the stage, a widely recognised symbol of Palestinian solidarity.

Suleyman responded by saying, “Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” while Aboussad continued to accuse him and the company of having “blood on their hands”….

Later, a second protest interrupted another part of the event — this time during a rare onstage appearance featuring Microsoft’s three current and former CEOs: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella. Vaniya Agrawal, another employee, voiced similar concerns about Microsoft’s role in military applications of AI….

https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/microsoft-event-disrupted-by-employee-protest-over-ai-use-in-israeli-military-operations-viral-video-9926210/

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