Microsoft fires employees for protesting against AI products for Israeli military
The company provided a response to each of the incidents (Photo: Getty Images)
Microsoft fired two programmers who spoke out at a company event against Israel's military allegedly using the company’s artificial intelligence products, according to NBC News.
According to documents reviewed by CNBC, the corporate event took place on a Friday. By Monday, Ibtihal Aboussad, a software engineer in the AI division based in Canada, was fired for justified reasons, deliberate misconduct, insubordination, and willful neglect of duties.
Another software engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, announced she would be leaving the company on Friday, April 11. However, Microsoft terminated her employment on Monday. The company stated that it decided to make her resignation effective immediately today.
What happened at the corporate event
According to documents, both employees chose Microsoft's 50th anniversary to express their criticism. What Microsoft had hoped to make a celebratory period turned into a few difficult days for the company, which, like the rest of the market, was affected by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. This was a topic that CEO Satya Nadella and his two predecessors, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, were forced to address on Friday during an interview with a CNBC journalist.
"As a Microsoft shareholder, this kind of thing is not good," said Ballmer about the tariffs.
However, as NBC writes, the company’s celebration attracted press attention more because of the protesters' message than for Microsoft’s achievements over half a century.
On Friday, the first speaker, Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, was interrupted by Abussad, who stood up and said:
"Mustafa, shame on you. You claim that you care for using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty thousand people have died, and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands," Abussad said, calling Suleyman a military speculator.
Shortly after the interruption, Abussad sent an email to Suleyman and other company executives explaining the reason for his actions.
"I spoke up today because after learning that my org was powering the genocide of my people in Palestine, I saw no other moral choice. This is especially true when I’ve witnessed how Microsoft has tried to quell and suppress any dissent from my coworkers who tried to raise this issue. I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights," wrote the employee in his letter.
Microsoft's response
The company stated in an internal message that Abussad's email to the executives was an acknowledgment that he had intentionally and willfully committed his offenses. Microsoft also stated that the employee could have expressed his concerns confidentially to his manager or the HR department... Instead, you chose to deliberately interrupt the CEO’s speech.
The document further stated that the company concluded that Abussad's wrongful actions were aimed at gaining attention and maximizing disruption of the much-anticipated event.
"Immediate cessation of your employment is the only appropriate response," the company wrote.
Second protest and company’s reaction
NBC reports that at another Microsoft event with company executives, Vaniya Agrawal interrupted CEO Satya Nadella's speech with a similar protest, sending an email afterward.
"You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary. Over the past 1.5 years, I’ve grown more aware of Microsoft’s growing role in the military-industrial complex," the email stated.
Agrawal wrote that the company is an accomplice as a manufacturer of digital tools that enable surveillance, apartheid, and genocide, adding that by working at this company, we all become accomplices.
A Microsoft spokesperson said on Friday that the company strives to maintain the highest standards of business conduct.
"We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate," the spokesperson said.
Microsoft anniversary
On Friday, April 4, Microsoft celebrated its 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company's founder, Bill Gates, released the source code of the Altair BASIC interpreter, which marked the beginning of the technology giant's history.
