A Pro-Palestinian protester interrupted the presentation of the Microsoft AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, accusing the technological company of selling artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military forces.
In a video of the presentation, you can listen to the protester to scream: “He affirms that he cares to use AI forever, but Microsoft sells weapons from AI to the Israeli army. Fifty thousand people have died … Every Microsoft has blood in their hands. How are they all celebrating when Microsoft is killing the children?
Suleyman responded to the protester saying: “Thank you, I hear your protest.” The protester responded to Suleyman, saying: “Don’t listen to us.” A Microsoft spokesman confirmed in a statement to NBC News that the protester was eliminated after the incident.
“We provide many ways for all the voices to be heard,” the spokesman wrote. “It is important to note that we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a commercial interruption. If that happens, we ask the participants to move. We are committed to ensure that our commercial practices maintain the highest standards.”
The interruption came in the middle of the Copilot event of the 50th anniversary of Microsoft at its Redmond headquarters, Washington. During the presentation, Suleyman was introducing new capabilities of the company’s service, Copilot. A live video to the event on YouTube became deprived after the protester’s videos began to circulate online.
The Pro-Palestinian Boicot Movement, Disinversion and Sanctions has condemned Microsoft in the past, accusing it of providing “Israel with technology, including artificial intelligence, which unfolds to facilitate serious human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanity (including apartheid), as well as genocide.”
Israel, which was established following the Nazi holocaust and houses many survivors and their families, has strongly denied the accusations of genocide.
In February, citing Microsoft documents and Israeli officials, Associated Press reported that Israel’s military became more and more on Microsoft technology after the attack of Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, using Microsoft Azure to compile surveillance information. Microsoft previously refused to comment on the accusations that the company has provided Israel technology in the past and did not answer questions from NBC News about claims.
Israel’s defense forces did not immediately respond to a request for comments.