Microsoft Employee Disrupts 50th Anniversary Over Israel AI Contracts

Microsoft celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary on Friday with a splashy event that featured all three of its current and former CEOs, but it did not come without surprises. The Verge reported earlier that an employee by the name Ibtihal Aboussad disrupted a presentation by the company’s head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, alleging the company has been complicit in genocide by selling its technology to Israel. “Shame on you,” said Aboussad, speaking directly to Suleyman. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.” Aboussad’s LinkedIn profile indicates she is a software engineer on the AI Platform team. After being ushered out of the event, she reportedly sent a memo to a number of internal distribution lists. In a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson, the company said, “We provide ... Read full article.