Pro-Palestinian protestors took centre stage at Microsoft’s Build developer conference for the second consecutive day. An employee of the tech giant in focus for disrupting Indian-origin Microsoft’s head of CoreAI, Jay Parikh’s key address has now been confirmed to be a “Palestinian tech worker,” as per The Verge.
No Azure for Apartheid, a group of “Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft end all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and govt,” has been sharing a series of videos since the onset of the company’s annual developer conference on May 19, 2025.
Pro-Palestinian Microsoft employees disrupt Indian-origin Jay Parikh’s keynote day protesting against Satya Nadella
As of now, three videos of the event have been uploaded on the group’s Instagram page. Scenes from Day 2 shared online showed an unnamed tech worker aggressively interrupting the keynote of the executive vice president of Microsoft CoreAI.
“Jay, you are complicit in the genocide in Gaza! My people are suffering because of you!” the techie shouted out. “How dare you! How dare you talk about AI when my people are suffering. Cut ties with Israel! Cut ties! No Azure for Apartheid! Free, free Palestine!” Hossam Nasr, an organiser with the Microsoft protest group declined to divulge the name of the “Palestinian tech worker” to The Verge.
As seen in the video, the masked-up Microsoft developer was quickly escorted out of the room as he continued yelling his heart out, “Free Palestine” as two men were spotted escorting him out of the conference room. Meanwhile, an awkward silence prevailed over the room.
“Microsoft is powering genocide in Palestine. At MS Build, Microsoft showcases and advertises their Cloud & AI technology ‘innovations’ used by the IOF to accelerate war crimes against Palestinians,” read No Azure for Apartheid’s IG caption.
Pro-Palestinian protests during Satya Nadella’s address
The protest group claimed responsibility in organising the disruption. The latest incident followed Joe Lopez, a Microsoft worker aligned with the campaign, spoke up during CEO Satya Nadella’s opening keynote on the first day of the conference.
Lopez was joined by a former Google employee in his protests against Microsoft’s ties with the Israeli government. The Microsoft protestor is even said to have sent out an email to thousands of his colleagues, urging them to speak up against Microsoft’s Israeli ties over AI.
“Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? How about you show the Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure. As a Microsoft worker, I refuse to be complicit in this genocide,” Lopez said on the first day. As he was forcefully dragged out, the ex-Google techie accompanying him began to say, “I am a former Google worker and tech workers…” before the video was abruptly stopped.
Although Nadella went on with his address during the protest, Jay Parikh briefly stumbled during the Day 2 protest. Pausing his keynote, he eventually resumed his statements on Tuesday morning.
As Microsoft’s ties to Israel remain under the scanner, the company even fire two employees for staging a pro-Palestinian demonstration during its 50th anniversary celebrations.
In response to it all, the tech giant issued a statement addressed its “standard commercial relationship” with the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD). Microsoft said that internal and external reviews alike “found no evidence that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies, or any of our other software, have been used to harm people or that IMOD has failed to comply with out terms of service or our AI Code of Conduct.”