Microsoft is said to have dismissed two software engineers, Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal, following their protest against the company’s alleged collaboration with the Israeli military during Microsoft’s Copilot and 50th anniversary event last week.
An internal message, seen by CNBC, states that Microsoft told Aboussad she could have addressed her concerns “confidentially with your manager or with Global Employee Relations,” but instead chose to disrupt the speech of Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman.
During the event on Friday, Aboussad interrupted Suleyman’s keynote on new AI products by shouting that he had “blood on his hands.” Later that same day, Agrawal interrupted a panel featuring Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and founder Bill Gates, shouting “shame on all of you … Cut ties with Israel.”
Following the incidents, Aboussad reportedly sent an email to Microsoft staff and executives, accusing the company of silencing dissenting voices. The email included a link to a petition from “No Azure for Apartheid,” a group of Microsoft employees known for their protests against the company’s involvement with Israel.
