Advertisement
Advertisement
Top Stories:
- U.S.-Iran peace deal
- Missouri plane crash
- Knicks championship parade
- Severe weather in Northeast
- Freedom 250 UFC event
- North Atlantic 'cold blob'
- Kennedy Center drops Trump
- Trump's busy 80th birthday
- U.S. wins World Cup opener
- State Fair opt-outs
Photo by BeInCrypto
Key takeawaysPowered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
- Stanford graduates walk out of commencement address by Google CEO Sundar Pichai due to protest against Google's contract with the Israeli government, focusing on Project Nimbus.
- Pichai avoids discussing artificial intelligence during his speech, opting instead to offer advice to graduates on choosing optimism, working on hard things, and pursuing what excites them.
- The protest against Google's contract with the Israeli government reflects a broader backlash against tech companies on college campuses, with Google facing scrutiny over its government AI contracts and heavy AI spending.
See more
Stanford graduates walked out of Stanford Stadium on June 14 as Sundar Pichai opened the university's 2026 commencement address, protesting Google's contract with the Israeli government.
The Alphabet and Google chief executive then sidestepped artificial intelligence entirely. That was a pointed choice when other tech leaders have drawn boos this year for leaning into the topic.
A Walkout Aimed at Google, Not AI
Organizers from Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine had pledged the walkout weeks earlier. They directed it at Pichai's company rather than at fears about automation and jobs.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Their target was Project Nimbus. The roughly $1.2 billion deal gives Israeli government agencies cloud and AI services from Google and Amazon.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
Israel's Finance Ministry announced the agreement in April 2021. It runs for an initial seven years and covers government, defense, and security users.
Protesters argue the contract supports surveillance and military operations in Gaza. The dispute keeps Google's broader AI ambitions race tied to a single geopolitical flashpoint.
The Speech That Skipped the Obvious Topic
Pichai, who earned a Stanford master's degree, acknowledged the pressure to address AI. He joked that the subject sat in the last two letters of his last name.
Actually, it's been the same advice, and it's about what not to say. People thought it would be really difficult for me; it is the last two letters of my last name, after all," read an excerpt in his speech.
Instead he offered three filters. He told graduates to choose optimism, work on hard things, and do what excites them.
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Google executive drew on his arrival from Chennai and his early work building Chrome.
The restraint breaks from his usual focus. Pichai has spent the past year promoting his personalized AI agents vision and Google's Gemini-powered Mariner agent.
A Year of Backlash Against Tech on Campus
His caution reflects a tense season for technology speakers at graduations. Several drew boos this spring over remarks about AI and the jobs it may replace.
Google also knows the Nimbus fight from inside. In 2024 it fired more than two dozen workers who protested the contract, fueling the No Tech for Apartheid campaign.
The scrutiny now reaches Google's wider government AI contracts and the heavy AI spending push straining Alphabet's stock.
Advertisement
Advertisement
For the Class of 2026, an AI-free speech still could not separate Pichai from the deal that drew protesters to their feet.
The coming days may show whether Google answers the renewed pressure or waits it out.
Read the Original story Stanford Graduates Walk Out on Google CEO as Commencement Speech Sidesteps AI by Lockridge Okoth at beincrypto.com
View comments
Advertisement
Read Original at Yahoo →