A group of students walked out of the graduation ceremony while Google CEO Sundar Pichai was delivering the commencement address at Stanford University. The planned weeks-long protest was targeting Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, a cloud computing and artificial intelligence deal between Google, Amazon and the Israeli government. More than 100 students took part in the demonstration, reports said, leaving their seats at Stanford Stadium while chanting “Free, free Palestine”. The students said the protest was intended to raise awareness of concerns surrounding the project and its links to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Students turn graduation ceremony into protest platform
The walkout came moments after Pichai began his speech, turning what was meant to be a celebration of academic achievement into a wider discussion about technology, politics and student activism. Students involved in the protest had expressed concerns about Project Nimbus and wanted the university community to consider what they said was the wider impact of the deal. The protest was a big moment in the ceremony but Pichai did not touch on it directly in his comments.
