Google fires employee who protested Israel tech event, as internal dissent mounts

Google has fired an employee who publicly protested against the company’s contract with the Israeli government during a tech conference. The employee, a Google Cloud engineer, interrupted a keynote speech by the managing director of Google’s Israel business, stating, “I refuse to build technology that powers genocide.” This incident has sparked further controversy within Google, which has been dealing with increasing internal dissent over its military contracts, particularly Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion agreement with the Israeli government. In response to the protest, Google prematurely closed an internal discussion forum ahead of an International Women’s Day summit.