Stanford Graduates Walk Out During Sundar Pichai’s Commencement Speech: Report
New Delhi — Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced protests and student walkouts while delivering the keynote address at Stanford University’s commencement, according to a report.
About 200 students walked out of the ceremony to protest Google’s ties to Israel and other issues, SFGate reported. Smaller groups in the audience also waved banners, blew whistles and displayed Palestinian flags before leaving during the speech.
Pichai, who leads Google parent Alphabet, avoided discussing artificial intelligence during the address, despite speaking at a university closely tied to Silicon Valley. The report said commencement speakers this year have faced boos when mentioning AI.
Instead, Pichai focused on his personal journey from India to Silicon Valley, speaking about his immigration to California, his decision to leave a doctoral program in favor of a master’s degree, and the challenges he faced when he joined Google.
The protests centered in part on Google’s ties with the Israeli government, including Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud-computing deal signed in 2021.
The ceremony continued after the initial protests, and Pichai’s remarks drew scattered applause and laughter.
The walkout followed other Stanford commencement protests in recent years over Israel’s war in Gaza and the university’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.
Protesters also held a separate “People’s Commencement” featuring activist Mahmoud Khalil as keynote speaker. Khalil was detained by U.S. immigration authorities for more than 100 days last year over pro-Palestinian campus activism at Columbia University.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was also booed at the University of Arizona commencement last month after saying, “AI is going to touch everything.” (Source: IANS)
