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Jun 16, 2026
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Sundar Pichai Faces Backlash at Stanford Graduation Over Google's Israel and ICE Ties

AI Summary
Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced protests and a walkout at Stanford University's graduation ceremony due to Google's ties with Israel and ICE, specifically over the $1.2 billion Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli military.

The Backlash Against Sundar Pichai

Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced a small revolt when he delivered his commencement speech at Stanford University, where he earned his graduate degree in materials science and engineering. About 200 students from the graduating class reportedly walked out, while others loudly booed the tech executive.

The Focus of the Protest: Google's Defense Ties

The focus of the protest was Google's defense ties — including Project Nimbus, the controversial $1.2 billion contract, shared with Amazon, to provide cloud and AI services to the Israeli military, as well as its relationship with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The Protest in Numbers and Voices

Student signs included phrases like “ICE SPIES WITH GOOGLE AI” and “GENOCIDE RUNS ON GOOGLE,” as well as “FREE FREE PALESTINE,” a press release associated with the protest notes. Students also waved Palestinian flags and shouted “free Palestine,” online video of the protest shows.

The Organizers and the Context

  • The walkout was organized by a number of campus activist groups, including Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, No Tech for Apartheid, and Tech for Liberation.
  • Google's participation in Nimbus has drawn protests from both inside and outside of the company.
  • In 2024, Google fired 28 workers for protesting the contract, although it has continued to suffer internal dissent over the issue since then.

The Reaction and the Future

The student protest also drew criticism from business leaders online. Vinod Khosla, the billionaire co-founder of Sun Microsystems and one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capitalists, posted on X that the protest was “biased, idiotic, short-sighted and very selfish,” adding that it was selfish because the students “ignored the bottom 3 billion people on this planet that could benefit from AI and they are worried about their misinformed selfish self-interest.”