Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted its 50th anniversary event with protests against the technology giant supplying artificial intelligence systems to the Israeli military, according to an activist group associated with the workers.

Software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad interrupted the livestreamed event at Microsoft’s headquarters in the US city of Redmond on Friday, while Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was on stage.

“You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” Aboussad was heard shouting in video from the event.

“Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”

Aboussad argued “all of Microsoft” had blood on its hands and threw a keffiyeh headdress — a symbol of support for Palestinian people — onto the stage before being removed from the event.

“Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” Suleyman said as Aboussad was led away.

A second protestor, software engineer Vaniya Agrawal, later interrupted discussions between current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Balmer.

“Shame on you all, you’re all hypocrites,” she said.

“Fifty-thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology — how dare you.

“Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood — cut ties with Israel.”

The first protester, Aboussad, was reportedly later fired by Microsoft due to “acts of misconduct”.

Agrawal, who interrupted the current and former CEOs, reportedly tendered her resignation prior to her protest but was then dismissed early, according to The Verge.

Microsoft is yet to comment publicly on reports of the dismissals.

The company said it had provided “many avenues for all voices to be heard”, in a statement released to US media on Friday.

Protesters accuse Microsoft of being ‘complicit’

Both Aboussad and Agrawal have been associated with No Azure for Apartheid, a group of Microsoft employees who have rallied against the company selling access to its Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

Following their protests, both workers sent emails explaining their actions to thousands of Microsoft employees and executives, according to No Azure for Apartheid.

Aboussad purportedly wrote Microsoft was “complicit” in the Israel Gaza war, and said she “was not informed that Microsoft would sell my work to the Israeli military and government”, according to a copy of her email published by the activist group.

Agrawal allegedly used her email to tell Microsoft employees, “If you must continue to work at Microsoft, I urge you to use your position, power, and privilege to hold Microsoft accountable to its own values and mission.”

The co-chair of a Microsoft employee community known as Palestinians and Allies at Microsoft (PAAM) has also resigned from their leadership role in that community, according to a letter published by No Azure for Apartheid.

The employee, whose name is stated solely as Adam, wrote that they hoped their resignation would “serve as a window of opportunity for people to come in with new and fresh ideas” for getting the group’s message across to Microsoft’s leaders.

“Seeing the actions of our colleagues at the 50th anniversary today has me genuinely questioning my worth to the cause of Palestine,” they wrote.


Microsoft employees protest at the company's 50th anniversary event in Redmond, Washington on Friday. Photo: No Azure for Apartheid / Instagram

Tech company contracts with Israel

American technology companies including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and ChatGPT-creator OpenAI have faced criticism over contracts with the Israeli government.

An investigation by the Associated Press published earlier this year found the Israeli military had used AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI to select bombing targets during wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Five Microsoft employees were reportedly removed from a meeting with the company’s CEO in February after protesting the contracts.

Google and Amazon have also supplied the Israeli military with cloud computing and AI services under a $2 billion ($US1.2 billion) contract signed in 2021, dubbed Project Nimbus.

At least 28 Google workers were fired after taking part in sit-in protests over the project in April 2024.