On Tuesday, Google employees wearing traditional Arab headscarves stormed the company’s cloud chief’s California office, while other employees staged a sit-in at the company’s headquarters in New York City, challenging the tech giant’s relationship with the Israeli government. I protested.
Pro-Palestinian employees, part of a group called “No Tech for Apartheid,” used their X and Twitch social media accounts to post images of the takeover of Sunnyvale, California-based CEO Thomas Kurian’s office. Posted a live video. Google Cloud.
Activist employees read a statement criticizing the company over its contracts with the Israeli government. The group has accused Hamas of committing “genocide” in its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip following the October 7 massacre of Israelis.
They called on Google to end its participation in “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion deal with Israel involving Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services.
Another group of protesters was seen occupying the 10th floor of Google’s offices in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood as part of a protest dubbed “No Technology for Genocide Action Day.” The protests also spread to the company’s offices in Seattle.
The Post has reached out to Google for comment.
The organized sit-in comes after a Google software engineer publicly criticized one of the company’s Israel-based executives during a technology conference in Manhattan last month.
Google fired the employee.
It’s unclear what action the company will take after the massive revolt within its internal walls.
image From Twitch live stream confirmed that they had taken over Mr. Kurian’s office.
A custom Golden State Warriors basketball jersey with Kurian’s name can be seen hanging on the wall in the background.
Activists appear to have scrawled pro-Palestinian slogans and statements on Kurian’s bulletin board, accusing the company of “harassment, bullying and censorship” of Arab and Muslim employees.
The Nimbus project was originally announced in April 2021, but the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Gaza brought the issue to the fore.
Tech employees at Amazon and Google have expressed concern that the technology could be used by the Israeli military against Palestinians.
Tech companies with overwhelmingly left-leaning employees, including Google, Apple and Microsoft, are grappling with employee unrest over the Israel-Hamas war.
Some companies have reportedly cracked down on chat discussions about disputes on internal bulletin boards, resulting in heated and contentious conversations.
