Stanford students WALK OUT on Google CEO Sundar Pichai's commencement speech, shout 'Free Palestine'

On Sunday, a group of graduating students at Stanford University walked out while Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered his keynote address. Videos on social media showed more than 100 students leaving their seats at Stanford, many with Palestinian flags, shouting, “Free Palestine.” The protest was organized by activist groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and No Tech for Apartheid.

Pichai, who has led Google as CEO since 2015, has been controversial in anti-Israel circles due to Google's involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint cloud-computing and artificial intelligence contract awarded to Google and Amazon in 2021 by the Israeli government.

Project Nimbus, which began development in 2019, was announced as a way to “digitally transform the State of Israel.” Google announced on its website at the time, “Following a thorough public tender process, Google Cloud was selected for this four-phase project known as 'Project Nimbus.' The agreement will deliver cloud services to all government entities from across the state, including ministries, authorities, and government-owned companies.”

The collaboration caused an uproar among pro-Palestinian activist groups, with many claiming that the technology could be used by Israel’s military in ways that could harm Palestinians. The business decision also caused an internal uproar, with the company firing more than 28 employees who protested the company's connections to Israel, according to NPR.

Against that backdrop, the protest during Pichai's commencement address reflected broader frustrations among activists who view Google's relationship with Israel as unacceptable.

Sunday’s protest comes amid a wave of campus interest in Big Tech and its rapidly expanding AI ambitions at graduation ceremonies this year. During his commencement address, Pichai emphasized the importance of maintaining an optimistic outlook despite uncertainty in the job market

"It’s easy to look at the news of the day and think that we’re living in uniquely challenging times," Pichai said. "For me, it’s helpful to remember that each generation has faced hardship in their own way. We don’t get to choose the world we graduate into, but we do get to choose how we frame our circumstances."

The walkout reflected a broader trend of student activism at commencement ceremonies, where speakers and university officials have faced scrutiny over issues ranging from artificial intelligence to the war in Gaza.