A protester disrupted Microsoft’s Copilot keynote presentation on Friday, voicing outrage over the company’s alleged involvement in providing AI tools to the Israeli military.
“Shame on you,” the protester shouted. “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military… All of Microsoft has blood on its hands.”
The interruption occurred during a speech by Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s Head of Consumer AI. Suleyman calmly acknowledged the protest, stating multiple times, “I hear your protest, thank you.”
The Associated Press previously reported in February that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI were allegedly used by the Israeli military in recent operations in Gaza and Lebanon, including in a controversial bombing that reportedly led to the deaths of several children and their grandmother.
This incident is not isolated — Microsoft employees have themselves staged protests as part of the “No Azure for Apartheid” movement, which has long criticized the company’s cloud and AI contracts with governments accused of human rights abuses.
Later in the keynote, a second protester interrupted a panel featuring CEO Satya Nadella, along with former Microsoft leaders Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. According to The Verge, both protests were coordinated as part of a planned action by activists demanding Microsoft sever ties with military AI development.
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