Microsoft HQ locked down after protesters occupy president's office
What's the story
Microsoft's Redmond headquarters was put on temporary lockdown after a group of protesters stormed the office of Brad Smith, the company's president. The incident occurred on Monday when members of the 'No Azure for Apartheid' group entered Building 34, where Smith's office is located. They live-streamed their protest on Twitch and displayed banners demanding an end to Microsoft's cloud contracts with Israel.
Protest details
Protest similar to previous one by Google employees
The protesters, some of whom were current Microsoft employees while others had been fired for previous activism, demanded that the company cut its ties with the Israeli government. They chanted slogans such as "Brad Smith you can't hide, you're supporting genocide!" and displayed a mock court summons against Smith for "crimes against humanity." The protest was similar to a previous one by Google employees over Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract providing Israel's government with cloud computing and AI tools.
Allegations
Israel using Microsoft services to store call recordings of Palestinians
A recent investigation by The Guardian revealed that the Israeli government is using Microsoft's cloud services to store recordings and data of up to a million calls an hour made by Palestinians. The No Azure for Apartheid group has been staging protests over these contracts in recent months. Last week, a Microsoft employee was arrested after some protesters "became aggressive" during a demonstration at Microsoft's headquarters.
Company silence
Microsoft yet to respond to recent protest
Microsoft has not yet commented on the recent protest inside its own offices. The company has previously faced criticism for blocking emails containing "Palestine" after employee protests. The No Azure for Apartheid group also disrupted Microsoft's Build conference earlier this year and crashed the company's 50th anniversary event, calling Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman a "war profiteer."