WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A section of graduates at Stanford University staged a walkout during Google CEO Sundar Pichai's keynote address, protesting over the technology giant's reported contracts with Israeli government.
Pichai, who is an alma mater of Stanford University, returned to the institution Sunday to deliver keynote address at the commencement ceremony for the class of 2026.
The walk out, staged by a group of around 200 students, was organized by Stanford's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and the campaign No Tech for Apartheid. The organizers had reportedly indicated well ahead of the event that they will boycott Pichai's speech in protest against the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus cloud computing deal, under which Google and Amazon provide Israeli government agencies with cloud and AI services.
Protesters allege that the service will be used for surveillance and military operations in Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Forces, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were the beneficiaries of the contracts, reports say.
Addressing students at Stanford Stadium, the Alphabet and Google boss did not go deep into AI or industry developments, but focused on general advice for graduates.
Recently, remarks from tech leaders on AI and the jobs it may replace at graduation ceremonies have drawn strong reactions from students, such as boos.
Videos of the walkout were widely shared on social media. One such video's caption reads, 'Stanford grads walk out as Google CEO Sundar Pichai takes the stage as commencement speaker. No mention of AI, unlike other uni speakers getting booed down this year.'
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