The 50th anniversary celebrations of Microsoft quickly turned into controversy when two software engineers disrupted executive speeches to protest the company’s AI contracts with the Israeli military, resulting in their immediate termination.
Ibtihal Aboussad, a software engineer from Microsoft’s Canadian headquarters, approached the stage during Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman’s presentation, declaring, “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military.”
She accused the company of powering “genocide” and threw a keffiyeh scarf—a symbol of Palestinian support—onto the stage before security escorted her out.
In a separate incident during the same anniversary event, another engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted CEO Satya Nadella with similar criticisms about Microsoft’s role in what she called the “military-industrial complex.”
Microsoft didn’t hesitate in its response. By Monday, both employees were terminated. According to internal documents, the company cited Aboussad’s “willful misconduct” and claimed her actions were “designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption.”
Though Agrawal had already submitted her resignation effective April 11, Microsoft made it “immediately effective” following her protest.
In their termination notice to Aboussad, Microsoft stated she could have raised concerns “confidentially with your manager,” rather than making what they called “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations.”
This incident follows a recent Associated Press investigation revealing that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been utilized in an Israeli military program for selecting bombing targets in Gaza and Lebanon. The report included details of a 2023 Israeli airstrike that killed three young girls and their grandmother in Lebanon.
These protests aren’t isolated events either. Five Microsoft employees were previously ejected from a meeting with Nadella in February for protesting similar contracts.
Google faced comparable internal dissent last year when dozens of workers were fired after protesting “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion deal providing AI technology to the Israeli government.
Microsoft has maintained that it provides “many avenues for all voices to be heard” but emphasized that protests should not cause “business disruption.” The company stated it is “committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”
The controversy overshadowed what was meant to be a celebratory milestone for the tech giant, with company luminaries Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in attendance. The protests, combined with market concerns over President Trump’s new tariffs, created what internal sources described as “a brutal few days” for the company.
