Indian-origin techie gatecrashes Microsoft occasion over Gaza, but once more

An Indian-American software program engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, who hit the headlines in April this yr by disrupting Microsoft’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations protesting the corporate’s “ties with Israel”, has as soon as once more interrupted a significant occasion of the tech large within the US’ Seattle.

In the latest incident, Agrawal, together with one other former Microsoft worker, Hossam Nasr, interrupted the tech large’s ongoing annual Build 2025 developer convention.

Bothm Agrawal and Nasr confronted Neta Haiby, the corporate’s Head of AI Security, and shouted throughout her look on the stage.

Haiby was main a Build session on AI safety practices together with Sarah Bird, Microsoft’s Head of Responsible AI, when the 2 former workers interrupted the occasion.

They had been protesting Microsoft’s cloud agreements with the Israeli authorities.

The demonstration marked the third straight day of disruptions on the occasion. Earlier, on May 19, a Microsoft worker interrupted CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote tackle, protesting towards the corporate’s ties to Israel. A day later, a Palestinian tech skilled additionally disrupted Jay Parikh’s Azure AI session, urging the corporate to “minimize ties” with Israel. Jay Parikh serves as Executive Vice President of Microsoft CoreAI.

This disruption by Vaniya Agrawal isn’t the primary time she has disrupted a Microsoft occasion.

VANIYA PREVIOUSLY CONFRONTED MICROSOFT LEADERSHIP OVER WAR IN GAZA

Vaniya Agrawal, who beforehand labored as an engineer in Microsoft’s AI division, had publicly accused the company’s leadership — together with Bill Gates and Satya Nadella — of being complicit in civilian casualties in Gaza.

In April, Vaniya confronted Microsoft’s present and previous CEOs — Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates — at Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington, accusing them of utilizing the corporate’s know-how to help “genocide within the Gaza Strip”.

Following the confrontation in April, she submitted a strongly worded resignation letter. In the letter she introduced that her closing day at Microsoft can be April 11, a number of days after she penned the identical. She wrote that she might not work for a corporation that, in her view, supported “oppressors” reasonably than standing with the oppressed.

Agrawal denounced Microsoft’s alleged $133 million take care of Israel’s Ministry of Defence, claiming the corporate’s AI and Azure cloud companies had been actively supporting navy operations towards Palestinian folks.

“Microsoft cloud and AI allow the Israeli navy to be extra deadly and harmful in Gaza,” she wrote in a company-wide e-mail shortly after confronting the CEO onstage.

Agrawal, who joined Microsoft in September 2023 after greater than three years at Amazon, had been working in its AI division.

Subsequently, Microsoft dismissed two workers, together with Vaniya, who interrupted its fiftieth anniversary occasion in April.

Microsoft described the actions as “hostile, unprovoked, and extremely inappropriate”.