Latest news with #ruckus
News18
23-05-2025
- Business
- News18
'Free Palestine': Microsoft Techie Fired For Protesting At CEO Satya Nadella's Event
Last Updated: 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.
CNBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Walmart AI details leaked during Microsoft Build conference
Microsoft AI security chief Neta Haiby showed a confidential Teams chat to a room full of people on Tuesday, revealing details from the company's artificial intelligence plan for Walmart, according to materials viewed by CNBC. Protesters interrupted the Microsoft Build session on best security practices and Haiby switched her screen share amid the ruckus, showing that Walmart, one of Microsoft's most significant customers, was "ready to ROCK AND ROLL with [Microsoft's] Entra Web and Al Gateway." The message, posted by Leigh Samons, a principal cloud solution architect at Microsoft, detailed the process for how Microsoft would go about integrating its technology into Walmart's processes. It also said that one of Walmart's tools needed extra safeguards. "MyAssistant is one they build that is overly powerful and needs guardrails," the message said, referencing a tool Walmart created and built last summer that "leverages a unique build of Walmart proprietary data, technology and large language models in Azure OpenAI Service," according to a January press release. The tool helps store associates summarize long documents, create new marketing content and more, per the release. The internal Teams message also cited a "distinguished" AI engineer at Walmart as saying, "Microsoft is WAY ahead of Google with Al Security. We are excited to go down this path with you." The Verge was first to report on the AI plans. CNBC has reached out to Microsoft and Walmart for comment. The protest singled out Sarah Bird, Microsoft's head of responsible AI who was part of the Build panel with Haiby. Haiby herself was formerly a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, according to a years-old Tumblr page viewed by CNBC. Haiby did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Sarah Bird, you are whitewashing the crimes of Microsoft in Palestine," Hossam Nasr, an organizer with the group No Azure for Apartheid, said, continuing, "How dare you talk about..." before the livestream audio was muted. Nasr was one of the Microsoft employees terminated last year after planning a vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza. The protest and the reveal of Walmart's AI plans followed another disruption earlier that day at Microsoft's Build developer conference in Seattle when an unnamed Palestinian tech worker disrupted a speech by Jay Parikh, Microsoft's head of CoreAI. "Jay, you are complicit in the genocide in Gaza," the tech worker, who did not wish to share his name for fear of retaliation, said. "My people are suffering because of you. How dare you. How dare you talk about AI when my people are suffering. Cut ties with Israel." He then called to "free Palestine" and said, "No Azure for apartheid," a nod to the group and its petition. On Monday, Microsoft software engineer Joe Lopez interrupted CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech onstage, saying, "Satya, how about you show them how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? How about you show them how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?" The recent disruptions are part of a mounting string of protests at Microsoft events over the Israeli military's use of the company's AI products. At Microsoft's 50th anniversary event last month, two Microsoft software engineers publicly protested during executive presentations. The roles of both employees were terminated soon after, according to documents viewed by CNBC. At the April event, Ibtihal Aboussad, then a software engineer in the company's AI division, interrupted Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's speech. "Mustafa, shame on you," Aboussad said as she walked toward the stage at the event in Redmond, Washington. "You claim that you care for 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." "You have blood on your hands," she said before being swiftly escorted out. "All of Microsoft has blood on its hands." Although the Microsoft protests centered on the Israeli military's use of its technology, AI companies in recent months have been walking back bans on broader military use of their products and entering into deals with defense industry giants and the Defense Department. In November, Anthropic and defense contractor Palantir announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to provide U.S. intelligence and defense agencies access to Anthropic's Claude AI models. Palantir recently signed a new five-year deal worth up to $100 million to expand U.S. military access to its Maven AI warfare program. OpenAI and Anduril announced a partnership allowing the defense tech company to deploy advanced AI systems for "national security missions." And last month, Scale AI forged a deal with the Department of Defense for a multimillion-dollar flagship AI agent program.
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Priyadarshan reacts to Akshay Kumar sending legal notice to Paresh Rawal for sabotaging Hera Pheri 3: ‘Paresh didn't inform us'
Filmmaker Priyadarshan is shocked by Paresh Rawal's decision to quit his film Hera Pheri 3. The veteran actor recently revealed that he has walked out of the movie, which was set to reunite the OG cast from the hit film Hera Pheri (2000) – Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh. As per HT reports on Tuesday, Akshay, who is also the producer of Hera Pheri 3, has sent a legal notice to Paresh, suing him for Rs. 25 crore for breach of contract and sabotaging the film. And now, director Priyadarshan has also reacted to the ongoing ruckus. While speaking to HT City, he said that Akshay has the right to take the legal proceedings forward as he invested his money in the film. 'I don't know why this happened because Paresh didn't inform us. Before starting the film, Akshay asked me to check with both Paresh and Suniel and I did and both were onboard,' said Priyadarshan, who has also helmed the upcoming Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar starrer horror comedy Bhooth Bangla. He added, 'I don't have anything to lose but Akshay has invested money and that could be the reason why he is taking this action. Paresh Rawal hasn't spoken to me till date.' ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar sues Paresh Rawal for Rs 25 crore over 'gross unprofessional conduct' after his midway exit from Hera Pheri 3: report A source related to the legal proceedings told HT, 'Paresh displayed a blatant disregard for professional integrity or commercial morality. If he wanted to not do the film, he should have said so before signing the legal contract, accepting the signing amount and making the producer spend so much money on the shoot.' On the other hand, Paresh Rawal told the publication, 'I am not aware of this yet.' However, in an interview with Mid Day, the veteran actor shared the reason behind his exit and clarified that it's not because of any creative differences with the director. 'I know it came as a shock to many. We three make a great combination with Priyadarshanji directing us, but the fact is that I opted out because today I don't feel like a part of it. I love Priyadarshan and have great respect and faith in him as a director. We have done wonderful movies together in the past and will continue to do so. There were no creative differences, nor is there a possibility of having any with him,' he said. While everything might be okay between the filmmaker and Paresh Rawal, things are definitely messy between him and Akshay, especially after his legal notice to sue. Akshay, who is also producing Hera Pheri 3, bought the rights from Firoz Nadiadwala, and is taking the lawsuit forward on behalf of his production house Cape of Good Films.
