Two Microsoft software engineers have been dismissed after publicly protesting the company’s role in providing artificial intelligence tools to the Israeli military, including at a high-profile event marking Microsoft’s 50th anniversary last Friday.
Ibtihal Aboussad, a Toronto-based engineer and Harvard graduate, confronted Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during his speech at the celebration. Aboussad, an organiser with the internal campaign group No Azure for Apartheid, accused the company of profiting from war and contributing to the deaths of civilians in Gaza.
“Mustafa, shame on you! You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” she shouted in front of attendees. “Fifty thousand people have died, and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region, Mustafa… You are a war profiteer!”
Suleyman, who joined Microsoft in March 2024 to head its AI division, responded repeatedly with, “Thank you for your protest. I hear you.”
Video footage captured Aboussad continuing to shout: “Stop using AI for genocide, Mustafa! Your Syrian family knows all about this. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands.” She was ultimately escorted out by security.
According to No Azure for Apartheid, Aboussad was contacted by Microsoft’s HR team on Monday and told her employment was being terminated immediately. A termination letter seen by CNBC accused her of making “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations” and stated her actions were “so aggressive and disruptive” that she needed to be removed from the room.
The company cited “just cause, wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty” as the grounds for dismissal.
A second employee, Vaniya Agrawal, was also let go after disrupting a separate event featuring Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Agrawal had reportedly planned to resign on 11 April but was informed via internal memo that the company was “making [her] resignation immediately effective” as of Monday.
Both engineers had publicly criticised Microsoft’s Azure cloud services contract with Israel. The company is alleged to have struck military-related technology deals worth at least £8 million following the 7 October Hamas attacks, according to The Guardian.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that AI models developed by Microsoft and OpenAI were used by the Israeli military in programmes that identified bombing targets in Gaza and Lebanon. The investigation included details of a 2023 airstrike that mistakenly killed three children and their grandmother in Lebanon.
In response to the latest incident, Microsoft said: “We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”
The firings come days after the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee named Microsoft a “priority target” and urged consumers to boycott its products, including Xbox and cloud services.
The episode echoes recent unrest at Google, where dozens of workers were dismissed for staging sit-ins to protest Project Nimbus, a £935 million AI and cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. Those former employees have since filed complaints with the US National Labour Relations Board.
