Stanford Commencement Disrupted by Anti-Israel Protest as Google CEO Speaks
Around 200 graduates left mid-speech as protesters targeted Google’s $1.2 billion Project Nimbus contract with Israel, Stanford students said.
- On Sunday, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai delivered the commencement speech at Stanford University as scores of graduates stood, booed, and walked out protesting Google's work with Israel.
- The protest centered on Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon, and Israel that activists claim facilitates military operations in the Gaza Strip.
- In his address, Pichai urged graduates to 'choose optimism' and embrace hard choices, largely avoiding the artificial intelligence debate shadowing other tech-heavy commencement speeches this season.
- Similar protests erupted last month when students at the University in Arizona booed Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt during his commencement speech on artificial intelligence.
- Industry leaders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have warned that artificial intelligence could render entry-level jobs obsolete, fueling graduate anxiety amid over a dozen major company layoffs this year.
75 Articles
75 Articles
Why Students Walked Away During Google CEO Speech
Hundreds of students at Stanford University staged a walkout during commencement ceremonies as Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took the stage to deliver the graduation address, highlighting ongoing campus activism surrounding technology companies and the conflict in the Middle East. According to local reports, approximately 200 students left the ceremony shortly after Pichai was introduced. 💡Some participants carried Palestinian flags and…
Stanford grads booed Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s commencement speech—but not for the reason you think
At graduation ceremonies in 2026, the mere mention of artificial intelligence is enough to garner boos from the crowd. It happened at the University of Central Florida, where speaker Gloria Caulfield said the “rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.” It happened at Middle Tennessee State University, where Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta claimed “AI is rewriting production as we sit here.” And it happened at th…
Over 100 Stanford Grads Disrupt Google CEO’s Commencement Speech Over Contract With Israel
As Sundar Pichai began his commencement address at Stanford University Sunday, more than 100 graduates staged a walkout, blowing whistles and chanting in protest of Google’s Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli government.Over 100 graduates walked out as Pichai took the stage at Stanford University Sunday, while others in the audience waved Palestinian flags, held banners, blew whistles, and wore keffiyehs in support of Palestine, as SFGate …
'Free Palestine!': 200 Stanford Grads Walk Out on Google CEO's Keynote Speech
"Today, we denied the speech of a genocidal company’s CEO," said Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine. "We walked towards our People’s Commencement. We started imagining a better future for our education."
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