New Delhi — Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced protests and a student walkout while delivering the keynote address at Stanford University’s commencement, according to a report.
About 200 graduates walked out of the ceremony to protest Google’s ties to Israel and other issues, SFGate reported. Smaller groups in the audience also waved banners, blew whistles and displayed Palestinian flags before leaving during the speech.
The protest was linked in part to Google’s work with the Israeli government, including Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud-computing contract signed in 2021.
Pichai did not focus on artificial intelligence during the address, despite speaking at a university closely tied to Silicon Valley. According to the report, commencement speakers at other colleges this year have been booed when discussing AI.
Instead, Pichai spoke about his personal journey from India to Silicon Valley. He reflected on immigrating to California, dropping out of a doctoral program in favor of a master’s degree and navigating early challenges after joining Google.
The ceremony continued after the initial protest, and parts of Pichai’s speech drew scattered applause and laughter.
The walkout came amid broader campus tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza and Stanford’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Protesters also held a separate “People’s Commencement,” where activist Mahmoud Khalil delivered the keynote address. Khalil had been detained by U.S. immigration authorities for more than 100 days last year over pro-Palestinian campus activism at Columbia University.
The Stanford protest followed a similar incident last month at the University of Arizona, where former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed after saying, “AI is going to touch everything.” (Source: IANS)
