Protester interrupts Microsoft Copilot keynote, says company has ‘blood on its hands’

A protester interrupted Microsoft’s Copilot-focused keynote Friday afternoon, calling attention to the company’s reported dealings with the Israeli military.

“Shame on you,” the protester said. “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military … All of Microsoft has blood on its hands.”

Microsoft Head of Consumer AI Mustafa Suleyman, whose portion of the keynote was interrupted by the protester, several times responded, “I hear your protest, thank you.”

In February, the Associated Press reported that sophisticated AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI, Microsoft’s close collaborator, had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Reportedly, one errant bombing led to the death of several young girls and their grandmother.

Several protests have been staged over Microsoft’s alleged involvement, including by the company’s own employees.

Updated 12:20 p.m. Pacific: A second protester interrupted a panel discussion involving CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates later in the keynote. The Verge reports that both protests were coordinated by No Azure for Apartheid, a long-running movement among some employees at Microsoft.