'Free Palestine': Microsoft Techie Fired For Protesting At CEO Satya Nadella's Event
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Joe Lopez, a Microsoft engineer, was fired after protesting the company's partnership with the Israeli military during CEO Satya Nadella's keynote at Build 2025.
Joe Lopez, the techie who created ruckus at Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech at the company's annual developer conference – Build 2025, has been fired. At the event, the software engineer protested against the company's partnership with the Israeli military amid the war in Gaza.
He accused the tech giant on contributing in worsening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He shouted 'Free Palestine" as a mark of protest in support of Gaza. A video that has surfaced on social media shows the man yelling, 'How about you show them how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? How about you show them how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?" Lopez shouted from the audience before being confronted and dragged out of the Seattle Convention Center by security. 'As a Microsoft worker, I refuse to be complicit in this genocide."
According to advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, the former Microsoft employee received a termination letter following the protest, although he was reportedly unable to open the document.
Fired Employee Sent Email
Soon after the disruption at the event, Lopez sent a mass email to his colleagues at the firm, challenging the company's statements about the use of its Azure cloud services in Gaza. 'Leadership rejects our claims that Azure technology is being used to target or harm civilians in Gaza", he said.
'Those of us who have been paying attention know that this is a bold-faced lie. Every byte of data that is stored on the cloud (much of it likely containing data obtained by illegal mass surveillance) can and will be used as justification to level cities and exterminate Palestinians."
This disruption marked the first of multiple pro-Palestinian protests during the four-day conference. At least three executive sessions were affected, one livestream had its audio briefly cut, and demonstrators also gathered outside the venue.
Vaniya Agrawal Creates Ruckus
In one such incident, an Indian-American techie Vaniya Agrawal – ex-software engineer at Microsoft – along with another fired Microsoft employee Hossam Nasr shouted at the company's head of security for AI, Neta Haiby.
Earlier on May 20, a Palestinian tech worker interrupted Microsoft executive Jay Parikh's keynote presentation, shouting, 'Jay! My people are suffering".
Last week, the tech giant admitted providing AI services to the Israel but stated it found no evidence that its Azure cloud or AI tools were used to directly target civilians in Gaza. However, internal dissent continues. The employee-led group claims the company has blocked internal emails containing terms like 'Palestine" and 'Gaza."
Nadella-led company has previously dismissed employees who protested its involvement in Israel, including during its 50th anniversary celebration in April.
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