Around 200 Stanford University graduates reportedly walked out as Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai delivered the university’s commencement address on Sunday. Students also booed and displayed signs criticizing Google’s contracts with the Israeli government and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Pichai earned a master’s degree in materials science and engineering from Stanford University. The university had selected him to address its 135th commencement ceremony, which drew more than 20,000 attendees.
Students Protest Google’s Government Contracts
The protest focused partly on Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement involving Google, Amazon, and the Israeli government. The contract provides cloud and artificial intelligence services to Israeli government agencies, including defense bodies.
Students also criticized Google’s relationship with ICE. Signs displayed during the walkout included statements accusing Google’s AI technology of supporting surveillance and Israel’s military operations, while students waved Palestinian flags and chanted in support of Palestine.
A statement connected to the protest said students walked out because they did not want to honor companies they believed contributed to violence. Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, No Tech for Apartheid, and Tech for Liberation were among the campus groups that organized the demonstration.
The walkout took place during Pichai’s speech at the 2026 commencement ceremony. He continued delivering his remarks as students left the venue.
Project Nimbus Has Faced Continued Opposition
Google’s work on Project Nimbus has prompted protests from employees and outside groups during the war in Gaza. In 2024, Google dismissed 28 employees who participated in workplace demonstrations against the contract.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently criticized Google and Amazon over the project. The organization said internal risk assessments had raised concerns about how the technology could be used before the agreement was signed.
Microsoft has faced separate criticism over technology supplied to the Israeli military. The company later restricted the Israeli government’s access to some services after an investigation found that its cloud infrastructure had been used for large-scale surveillance of Palestinians.
Business Leaders Respond to the Walkout
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla criticized the students in a post on X, describing the protest as biased and short-sighted. He argued that the demonstrators were overlooking the potential benefits that AI could provide to billions of people.
The protest differed from other recent demonstrations at graduation ceremonies where speakers were booed while discussing AI and its economic effects. At Stanford, students directed their objections toward specific business relationships maintained by Google under Pichai’s leadership.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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