{"slug": "over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract", "title": "Over 100 Stanford Grads Disrupt Google CEO’s Commencement Speech Over Contract With Israel", "summary": "Over 100 Stanford graduates walked out during Google CEO Sundar Pichai's commencement speech on Sunday, protesting Google's Project Nimbus contract with Israel. The protesters blew whistles, waved Palestinian flags, and held banners, while Pichai continued his address. The walkout highlighted ongoing criticism of Google's $1.2 billion cloud-computing deal with the Israeli government.", "body_md": "As Sundar Pichai began his commencement address at Stanford University Sunday, more than 100 graduates staged a walkout, blowing whistles and chanting in protest of Google’s Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli government.\n\nOver 100 graduates walked out as Pichai took the stage at Stanford University Sunday, while others in the audience waved Palestinian flags, held banners, blew whistles, and wore keffiyehs in support of Palestine, [as SFGate reports](https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/sundar-pichai-stanford-commencement-22304888.php). In video footage of the protest, Pichai can be heard continuing on with his speech as a steady stream of graduates head toward the exit.\n\nStanford grads walk out as Google CEO Sundar Pichai takes the stage as commencement speaker. No mention of AI, unlike other uni speakers getting booed down this year. Story for\n\n— Matt Brown (@maattttbrown)[@sfgate]shortly[pic.twitter.com/qvS2rJ91Ip][June 14, 2026]\n\nSome students reportedly joined a separate “People’s Commencement” event featuring activist Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student who was detained by federal immigration authorities for more than 100 days over his pro-Palestinian activism.\n\nThe protest was in response to Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, the company’s $1.2 billion cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government that it shares with Amazon.\n\n[As SFist reported](https://sfist.com/2024/04/18/google-fires-all-28-workers-who-pulled-an-in-company-protest-against-israeli-defense-contract/) in 2024, Google fired roughly 28 employees following a sit-in protest at company offices over Project Nimbus. Critics of the contract have long argued that Google has provided little transparency about how its technology is being used by the Israeli government, while the company maintains the project is not intended for weapons, intelligence, or other highly sensitive military applications.\n\nAccording to a 2022 report [by The Intercept](https://theintercept.com/2022/07/24/google-israel-artificial-intelligence-project-nimbus/) examining leaked training materials, the contract gives Israeli government agencies access to Google's cloud-based AI and machine-learning tools, including image analysis, facial detection, object tracking, and other data-processing capabilities. Some Google employees and outside researchers raised concerns that such tools could be used for surveillance or military purposes. Critics were especially concerned about Google’s claims that its software can detect emotions, intent, or deception — technology that has been debunked by experts.\n\n[Gizmodo reports](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/11/google-completes-32b-acquisition-of-wiz/) that earlier this year, hundreds of Google employees signed a letter seeking greater transparency about the company’s government contracts and concerns that its technology could be used to support federal immigration enforcement.\n\nThe protest also comes just months after Google completed its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz, the largest purchase in the company's history, [as TechCrunch reported](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/11/google-completes-32b-acquisition-of-wiz/) in March.\n\nDespite the disruptions, SFGate reports that Pichai’s speech was otherwise well received after the protesters left. Unlike several commencement speakers who faced backlash this graduation season over comments about artificial intelligence, Pichai largely avoided the topic altogether.\n\n[According to NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/former-google-ceo-booed-graduation-speech-ai-rcna345585), former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed during his address at the University of Arizona last month, with some audience members objecting to his comments about artificial intelligence and others reportedly shouting references to his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.\n\n**Related:** [Google Fires All 28 Workers Who Pulled an In-Company Protest Against Israeli Defense Contract](https://sfist.com/2024/04/18/google-fires-all-28-workers-who-pulled-an-in-company-protest-against-israeli-defense-contract/)\n\n*Image: Google CEO Sundar Pichai attends a dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the State Dining Room at the White House on March 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. This is Takaichi's first official visit to Washington as Prime Minster. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract", "canonical_source": "https://sfist.com/2026/06/15/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract-with-israel/", "published_at": "2026-06-15 19:13:49+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-15 19:37:06.220930+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-ethics", "ai-policy", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Sundar Pichai", "Stanford University", "Google", "Project Nimbus", "Amazon", "Mahmoud Khalil", "Columbia University", "Wiz"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/over-100-stanford-grads-disrupt-google-ceos-commencement-speech-over-contract.jsonld"}}