Washington: Microsoft’s 50th anniversary event at its Redmond, Washington headquarters was upended last week by two separate pro-Palestinian protests from within its own ranks.
During presentations by AI chief Mustafa Suleyman and onstage appearances by co-founders Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, employees denounced Microsoft’s sale of AI technology to the Israeli military and called for an end to what they termed as “genocide.” Both protesters have since been dismissed by the company.
Who Is Vaniya Agrawal?
The second protester, Indian‑American software engineer Vaniya Agrawal, confronted Gates, Ballmer, and CEO Satya Nadella while they stood onstage. She said, “Shame on you all. You’re all hypocrites. Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating in their blood. Cut ties with Israel.”
Here's a video from the event:
Agrawal, who joined Microsoft in September 2023 as a Software Engineer II, announced her resignation via mass email after the event, citing moral objections. Her last day will reportedly be April 11.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Agrawal graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering from the Arizona State University in 2019. She also earned a Grace Hopper Scholarship to attend the 2017 Grace Hopper Conference and interned at Amazon in 2018, later joining the company as a full‑time employee until October 2022. Before her tech career, she briefly worked as a tea consultant and a medical assistant.
Microsoft’s Response to the Controversy
Following the incident, Microsoft terminated both employees involved in the protests. In a termination letter, the company accused one protester of “misconduct designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event.” The second protester, Agrawal, had already submitted her resignation; however, she was ordered to leave five days earlier than planned.
A Microsoft spokesperson defended the firings, stating that while the company respects freedom of expression, the protests violated workplace conduct policies and endangered the safety of attendees. Security teams and local police had to intervene when the SUV‑style event stage was breached, he reported.
