A Microsoft staff member interrupted the company’s Build developer conference in Seattle, Washington, earlier today, voicing opposition to Microsoft’s cloud and AI agreements with the Israeli government. The disruption occurred just minutes after CEO Satya Nadella began his keynote address.
One protester shouted, “Free Palestine!” as they interrupted the presentation. Nadella proceeded with his speech while security removed the demonstrators from the auditorium at the Seattle Convention Center.
Joe Lopez, a firmware engineer at Microsoft involved with aspects of the Azure cloud platform, was swiftly removed from the Build conference by security after directly challenging Satya Nadella during the event.
A pro-Palestine Microsoft worker protested the leadership of the company for supporting genocide in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/ybUcd20tcl
— Palestine Info Center (@palinfoen) May 19, 2025
“Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians,” Lopez yelled. “How about you show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?”
Following the incident, Lopez circulated a company-wide email outlining the reasons behind his decision to protest.
“As one of the largest companies in the world, Microsoft has immeasurable power to do the right thing: demand an end to this senseless tragedy, or we will cease our technological support for Israel,” read the email, which has also been published on Medium. “If leadership continues to ignore this demand, I promise that it won’t go unnoticed. The world has already woken up to our complicity and is turning against us. The boycotts will increase and our image will continue to spiral into disrepair.”
This recent demonstration by an employee follows a similar incident just a few weeks ago, when two ex-Microsoft workers disrupted the company’s 50th-anniversary celebration. During that event, one individual accused Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s head of AI, of being a “war profiteer” and urged the company to “end the use of AI technologies in support of genocide in our region.”
Another protester later interrupted a segment featuring company co-founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and current CEO Satya Nadella.
