Students boo and walk out during Sundar Pichai’s Stanford speech

In short: Google CEO Sundar Pichai was booed and about 200 students reportedly walked out during his Stanford commencement speech over Google’s defense and government work.

What happened

Over the weekend, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, gave the graduation speech at Stanford University. Pichai earned a graduate degree at Stanford.

During the ceremony, about 200 graduating students reportedly walked out, and others in the crowd loudly booed. The protest focused on Google’s work connected to governments and military groups.

Student organizers pointed to Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract shared by Google and Amazon. Under this deal, the companies provide cloud and AI services to the Israeli military. “Cloud” means rented computer power and storage over the internet, like using an off-site warehouse for your data instead of keeping it at home.

Protesters also cited Google’s relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, often called ICE. Signs included messages such as “ICE SPIES WITH GOOGLE AI” and “FREE FREE PALESTINE,” and some students waved Palestinian flags, according to the report.

The walkout was organized by campus groups including Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, No Tech for Apartheid, and Tech for Liberation. TechCrunch reported it contacted Google for comment.

Why it matters

This protest shows how arguments about AI are not only about new technology, but also about who uses it and for what. For many people, “AI services” can sound abstract, but in practice it can be like selling a powerful tool and then being challenged about how the buyer might use it.

Source: TechCrunch AI