Microsoft Employees Protest AI and Cloud Services Contracts with Israeli Military

A group of Microsoft employees staged a protest against the company’s contracts to provide artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing services to the Israeli military. The protest took place during a company town hall meeting led by CEO Satya Nadella at Microsoft headquarters.

During the meeting, five employees stood standing in T-shirts collectively spelling, “Does Our Code Kill Kids, Satya?” The protest was quickly cut short and the employees were escorted out by security personnel.

AI Concerns in Military Use

This demonstration comes amid growing concerns about the use of AI in warfare. A recent investigation revealed that Microsoft and OpenAI’s advanced AI models have reportedly been utilized in Israeli military operations, including target selection during recent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Reports indicate that misidentification in 2023 led to an airstrike that killed three children and their grandmother, raising ethical concerns about the role of AI in modern warfare.

Microsoft replied that employees do have several in-house complaints but that creating disruptions in the workplace is simply not an option. It remains unclear whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the protesting workers.

A History of Workplace Tensions

This is not the first time Microsoft has been faced with internal opposition to its business operations. In October 2024, the firm fired two workers who had arranged an unauthorized protest outside its headquarters to mark Palestinians who died in Gaza. Such incidents reflect ongoing internal controversies over the moral implications of Microsoft’s involvement in military applications of AI and cloud computing.

While negotiations on AI ethics and war continue, the protest of recent days illustrates the newly unfolding conflict within the tech community about the deployment of next-generation technologies to war zones.