Microsoft HQ on Lockdown as Protesters Occupy Brad Smith’s Office
Protest at Microsoft HQ: Activists Occupy Brad Smith's Office in Cloud Contract Dispute
On Monday, Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters went into lockdown after a group of activists entered Building 34 and staged a sit-in inside President Brad Smith’s office. The protesters, identifying as the “No Azure for Apartheid” group, live-streamed their demonstration on Twitch, displaying banners and chanting slogans criticizing Microsoft’s business ties with Israel.
This protest was notable not only for its scale but also for its participants—both current Microsoft employees and former staff dismissed for earlier activism took part. The group issued a symbolic ‘legal summons’ accusing Smith of “crimes against humanity.”
The demonstration is the latest in a series of actions targeting Microsoft’s cloud service contracts with the Israeli government and military. Recent months have seen escalating protests at Microsoft, including arrests during previous sit-ins. The activists’ concerns were amplified by a Guardian investigation showing Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure is used to store daily call data from Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Monday’s events echoed similar actions at other tech giants. In April 2024, Google employees staged coordinated protests at offices in New York and California. Five workers occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian for nine hours, highlighting opposition to Project Nimbus—a $1.2 billion contract providing Israel with cloud and AI solutions. Those protests were also live-streamed, leading to multiple employee terminations.
As employee activism grows within the tech sector, companies like Microsoft and Google are facing increased scrutiny over their government and defense contracts. The Microsoft protest underscores the ongoing tension between tech workers, company leadership, and the ethical implications of AI and cloud deployments worldwide.
