NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Redmond, WA, April 7, 2025 – Microsoft’s 50th-anniversary celebration took an unexpected turn when Vaniya Agrawal, a software engineer at the company, interrupted a high-profile event at its Redmond headquarters to protest the tech giant’s alleged ties to the Israeli government.
The celebration featured Microsoft’s top leadership, including CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, gathered on stage to commemorate five decades of innovation. But the festive atmosphere was briefly disrupted when Agrawal stood up during the event and called out the company for what she described as its “complicity in genocide.”
“You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands,” Agrawal shouted, referring to Microsoft’s reported $133 million cloud computing contract with Israel’s Ministry of Defense. She criticized the use of Microsoft Azure and artificial intelligence technologies in what she alleged were military operations and surveillance targeting Palestinians.
Agrawal, who later announced that she was resigning from her role at Microsoft, is affiliated with the activist group “No Azure for Apartheid,” which opposes tech companies supplying services to governments accused of human rights violations. In her protest, she urged other Microsoft employees to speak out and demand that the company terminate its contracts with the Israeli government and military.
The protest highlights growing tensions within the tech industry, where employees are increasingly challenging corporate decisions involving military and government partnerships. Microsoft, in particular, has faced mounting scrutiny in recent months. In October 2024, two employees—Abdelrahman Mohamed and Hossam Nasr—were terminated for organizing an unauthorized vigil at the Redmond campus to honor Palestinians killed in Gaza. They were also members of the “No Azure for Apartheid” campaign.
Microsoft has maintained that the employee terminations were due to violations of internal company policies, and has stated its commitment to fostering a respectful and inclusive work environment.
The company has not publicly commented on Agrawal’s protest during the anniversary event. However, the incident has sparked a broader conversation about the role of major tech firms in global conflicts, and the responsibility they bear in determining how their technologies are used.
