Microsoft Corporation recently terminated two software engineers, Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal, after they disrupted a high-profile event marking the company’s 50th anniversary.
The incident unfolded on the Redmond, Washington, campus, where a tent on an athletic field hosted speeches and a Q&A session with prominent figures, including CEO Satya Nadella, co-founder Bill Gates, and former CEO Steve Ballmer.
On Friday, Aboussad interrupted a speech by Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s consumer artificial intelligence chief. She accused the company of hypocrisy, shouting, “Mustafa, shame on you. You claim to care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty thousand people have died.” Suleyman acknowledged her briefly, responding, “Thank you for your protest. I hear you,” before continuing. Later, Agrawal disrupted a Q&A session featuring Nadella, Gates, and Ballmer, further escalating tensions.
"50,000 Palestinians have been murdered with Microsoft technology"
Multiple employee protests disrupted the Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration at its Washington headquarters targeting the company's support to Israel pic.twitter.com/CqUGyS1RiW
— TRT World (@trtworld) April 5, 2025Event staff promptly escorted both employees out of the venue. By Monday, Microsoft had taken decisive action. Aboussad received an email, reviewed by Bloomberg, stating her termination was due to “acts of misconduct” deemed “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate.” Agrawal, who had planned to resign on April 11, was informed that Microsoft accepted her resignation effective immediately. Both lost access to their corporate email and chat accounts shortly after the protests.
Background on the Protests
Bloomberg identified Aboussad and Agrawal as software engineers and linked them to No Azure for Apartheid. This group has criticized Microsoft’s sales of Azure cloud services and AI technology to the Israeli military, citing concerns over Israel’s actions in the Gaza conflict. Their protests reflect a broader tension between corporate ethics and employee activism in the tech industry.
🚨A Microsoft employee disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event to protest its use of AI.
“Shame on you,” said Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad, speaking directly to Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI… pic.twitter.com/PdIqa6TSHo
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) April 4, 2025Microsoft declined to comment immediately, leaving the public statement limited to the termination notice provided to Aboussad.
Read: Pro-Palestinian Protest Disrupts Microsoft’s 50th Anniversary Event
The incident highlights tech giants’ challenges when balancing business decisions with employee dissent. As a leader in AI and cloud computing, Microsoft’s partnerships, particularly with government,s often draw scrutiny. For readers interested in corporate accountability, this event underscores how internal protests can ripple into public discourse.
