A group of Stanford University graduates walked out of their commencement ceremony after Google CEO Sundar Pichai began delivering his keynote address. The Walkout, organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), was designed to protest the company’s contracts with Israel.
Video footage posted to social media showed what appeared to be more than 100 Stanford graduates getting up from their seats and exiting the event as they chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” while some students held up Palestinian flags.
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The protest was organized by the far-left student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and No Tech for Apartheid, according to a report by the New York Post.
The left-wing student groups had previously issued social media posts supporting influencers in Gaza who have openly celebrated the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and massacre of Jews, the outlet noted.
Pichai, a Stanford University alumnus, was speaking while the graduates put on their display during Sunday’s event.
In 2021, a coalition of Google and Amazon workers published an open letter protesting the tech companies’ decision to supply the Israeli military and government with a technology contract called “Project Nimbus.” The project is a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud data services for the Israeli military and government.
In 2024, Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at the company’s offices in New York and California against the tech giant’s Project Nimbus contract.
Sunday’s walkout at Stanford is also the latest in a series of demonstrations at graduation ceremonies in response to Big Tech this year.
Last month, former Google CEO and Democrat mega-donor Eric Schmidt encountered widespread booing from graduates during his commencement address at the University of Arizona as he spoke about young people’s “fear” of AI.
Apple cofounder and Silicon Valley legend Steve Wozniak, however, received a warm welcome from graduates at Grand Valley State University’s commencement ceremony last month, when he emphasized the value of human intelligence over AI.
Despite the disturbance on Sunday, Pichai reportedly continued his speech, in which he spoke optimistically about adapting to change.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.