Microsoft Fires Employee for Disrupting Satya Nadella’s Speech
Technology giant Microsoft has terminated a software engineer who interrupted Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella's keynote address in protest of the company’s partnership with the Israeli military. The employee alleged that Microsoft was complicit in harm caused to Palestinians in Gaza through its Azure cloud services.
The incident occurred at the Seattle Convention Center during Satya Nadella’s keynote session, when software engineer Joe Lopez suddenly stood up from the audience and shouted slogans including, “Free Palestine.” Directly addressing Nadella, Lopez asked, “Can you show us how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? Can you explain how Azure fuels Israel’s war crimes?” Security personnel promptly intervened and escorted Lopez out of the venue. As he was being removed, Lopez reportedly shouted, “As a Microsoft employee, I refuse to be complicit in this genocide.”
According to the human rights group “No Azure for Apartheid,” Lopez later received a termination letter from Microsoft.
Following the protest, Joe Lopez reportedly sent a mass email to fellow Microsoft employees. In the email, he condemned the company’s justification of Azure’s usage in Gaza. He wrote, “The management denies our accusations that Azure technology is being used to target or harm civilians in Gaza. But for those of us who know the facts, we know this is a blatant lie. Every byte of data stored in the cloud—collected through unlawful mass surveillance—is aiding in leveling cities and enabling the elimination of Palestinians.”
The Build 2025 conference, which spanned four days, saw multiple such protests. At least three executive sessions were interrupted, and one livestream audio feed had to be temporarily suspended. Outside the conference venue, demonstrators also gathered in support of Palestine. On May 20, a Palestinian tech worker interrupted a speech by Microsoft executive Jay Parikh, saying, “Jay! My people are suffering immensely.”
Although Microsoft acknowledged last week that it provides AI services to the Israeli military, the company stated that its Azure cloud and AI tools are not being used to target civilians in Gaza. Nonetheless, internal dissent persists. Some employees have alleged that Microsoft is blocking internal emails containing words such as "Palestine" and "Gaza." There have also been previous instances where Microsoft dismissed employees who protested the company’s ties with Israel.