Sundar Pichai faces boos, walkout at Stanford graduation ceremony over Google’s Israel, ICE ties

During the weekend, Google CEO Sundar Pichai encountered a minor backlash while delivering a commencement address at Stanford University, from which he graduated with a degree in materials science and engineering. Approximately 200 students from the graduating class reportedly walked out, and others voiced their disapproval by booing the tech leader.

The protest centered on Google’s defense partnerships, particularly Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract shared with Amazon to provide cloud and AI services to the Israeli military. This, along with Google’s association with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, was a focal point of dissent.

Protesters carried signs with slogans such as “ICE SPIES WITH GOOGLE AI,” “GENOCIDE RUNS ON GOOGLE,” and “FREE FREE PALESTINE.” A press release linked to the protest highlighted these messages. Students were also seen waving Palestinian flags and chanting “free Palestine,” as shown in online footage of the event.

“We are walking out because we refuse to glorify the corporations that fuel this violence and exercise our power to choose differently,” a statement from the protest organizers declared.

The demonstration was coordinated by various campus activist groups, including Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, No Tech for Apartheid, and Tech for Liberation. JS reached out to Google for a response.

With the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus has sparked protests both internally and externally. In 2024, the company dismissed 28 employees for opposing the contract, although internal disagreements have persisted. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also criticized Google and others for “choosing to look the other way” regarding Israel’s use of their services.

Amazon supports Project Nimbus as well. Microsoft has faced criticism for assisting the Israeli military but has limited the Israeli government’s use of its technology. An investigation revealed that its cloud services were employed for extensive surveillance of Palestinians.

The student protest also faced online criticism from business figures. Vinod Khosla, billionaire co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a leading venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, commented on X that the protest was “biased, idiotic, short-sighted and very selfish,” arguing that students were overlooking the potential benefits AI could offer to the planet’s bottom 3 billion people in favor of their “misinformed selfish self-interest.”

Pichai’s visit to Stanford reflects a broader trend. Across the country, commencement speakers have faced negative reactions when discussing AI with graduating students. However, the student opposition to Pichai was notably focused not on AI itself but on the specific business choices of the company he leads. Generally, young people perceive AI as threatening their job prospects and potentially harming other societal aspects.