Several students at Stanford University staged a walkout during Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s commencement speech on Sunday, protesting the tech giant’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.About 200 students left Stanford Stadium as Pichai, an alumnus of the university, began his speech. According to reports, many of them carried Palestinian flags and banners, chanting “Free, Free Palestine.”
The protest was organized by groups including Students for Justice in Palestine and No Technology for Apartheid. This was announced weeks ago.The students were protesting Google’s participation in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing and artificial intelligence deal with the Israeli government, which also includes Amazon.
Critics say the technology could be used for military purposes amid the ongoing war in Gaza.“We don’t need another tech billionaire to tell us how to get rich from killing and surveilling Palestinians,” Stanford SJP said in a statement before the event.Pichai did not mention the protest or war in his speech. Instead, he spoke about optimism and his personal journey from Chennai to Silicon Valley.“We cannot choose the world we graduate into, but we must choose how we frame our circumstances,” Pichai told the graduates.
He remembers that his father used to spend an entire year’s salary to buy him a plane ticket to the United States. “When I got a call from Stanford University, my father spent the equivalent of an entire year’s salary to buy my ticket,” he said. “It was my first time traveling on a plane.”After the ceremony, a BBC journalist asked Pichai about his reaction to the protest. He didn’t respond and continued walking.
Indian-American capitalist Vinod Khosla criticized the students on X, calling their actions “biased, stupid, short-sighted and extremely selfish.”“The stupidity of those Stanford students who went out to Google and Sundar Pichai pioneered the greatest opportunity for equality in humanity ever,” Khosla wrote.Indian-American lawmaker Ro Khanna responded: “My understanding is that these students came out to protest Google’s contract with the Israeli military, given the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza. Wherever one stands on those contracts, I believe you will support their right to freedom of expression.”Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar also criticized the students, calling them an example of “extreme ignorance”.“Advocating a cause should not be confused with ignorance or foolish behavior,” he said. “You live in the age of artificial intelligence, not in the age of ignorance.”
