On August 26, 2025, the usually quiet corridors of Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington headquarters were jolted by an unexpected and highly charged protest. Seven demonstrators, including two current Microsoft employees and at least one former Google employee, infiltrated the executive office of Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, in Building 34. Their aim: to protest the company’s ongoing technology contracts with the Israeli government, particularly in light of the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza. The protest, orchestrated by the activist group No Azure for Apartheid, marked the latest escalation in a series of demonstrations targeting the tech giant’s relationship with Israel.
According to The Seattle Times and GeekWire, the group managed to breach security, occupy Smith’s office, and hang banners—including one renaming the building after Mai Ubeid, a Gaza software engineer killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. The protesters chanted, sat in, and demanded that Microsoft cut ties with Israel and, as stated by the group, “end its alleged role in genocide.” They also delivered a court summons notice to Smith’s office, a move meant to symbolize holding the company accountable for its business dealings.
Redmond police responded swiftly. Officers found the protesters had barricaded themselves inside the executive office, blocking entry to others. According to Microsoft and police statements reported by CNBC and NPR, the activists had also planted crude listening devices—cell phones and telephones hidden under couches and behind books—raising concerns about workplace security. After refusing to leave when asked, all seven were arrested on charges including trespassing, resisting arrest, and obstruction. The demonstrators outside the building moved to a public area and eventually dispersed peacefully.
Brad Smith, addressing reporters just hours after his office was cleared and cleaned, struck a measured tone. “Obviously, when seven folks do as they did today—storm a building, occupy an office, block other people out of the office, plant listening devices, even in crude form, in the form of telephones, cell phones hidden under couches and behind books—that’s not OK,” Smith stated, according to CNBC. He emphasized that while Microsoft respects employees’ freedom to express their views, actions that threaten safety or violate company policies are another matter entirely. “If people engage in vandalism, if they violate repeatedly our email policies, if they storm buildings, if they occupy offices, if they create threats to others, that’s different,” Smith said, indicating that the company would review the conduct of the employees involved.
The protest did not occur in isolation. Just a week earlier, on August 19, No Azure for Apartheid had organized campus-wide demonstrations that led to 20 arrests, with only one of those arrested being a current Microsoft employee. The group has been a persistent presence at Microsoft events throughout 2025, disrupting a company anniversary celebration and even interrupting a speech by CEO Satya Nadella earlier in the year. Their demands have been consistent: cut all ties with Israel, investigate the use of Microsoft technology in the conflict, and, in some statements, pay reparations to Palestinians.
At the heart of the controversy are allegations—first reported by The Guardian—that the Israeli military used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store and process data, including phone call records, obtained through mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. These claims have intensified scrutiny of Microsoft’s contracts with Israel, especially as the war in Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths. The Associated Press further reported that Microsoft’s Azure platform was used by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to transcribe, translate, and process intelligence, information that could be cross-checked with AI-enabled systems for targeting purposes.
Smith addressed these reports directly during his press conference. He said Microsoft had hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims and would share the factual findings once the review was complete. “I think the responsible step from us is clear in this kind of situation: to go investigate and get to the truth of how our services are being used,” Smith explained, as quoted by CNBC. He also noted that Microsoft’s terms of service explicitly prohibit the use of its technology for unlawful surveillance or targeting, and previous internal reviews found no evidence that Azure was used to harm people in Gaza. Still, Smith acknowledged, “some of the information [in The Guardian’s report] was false, some was true, and much of what they reported now needs to be tested.”
Smith was careful to stress that the majority of Microsoft’s work for the Israeli Defense Force is focused on cybersecurity—protecting Israel and regional partners like the United Arab Emirates from cyber threats, particularly those originating from Iran and Russia. “Microsoft is not a government; it’s not a country. It’s a company,” Smith remarked, emphasizing that the company’s role is to provide technology in a principled and ethical way. He added, “We will do what we can and what we should—that starts with ensuring that our human rights principles and contractual terms of service are upheld everywhere, by all of our customers around the world.”
As the dust settled, debate over the protests and Microsoft’s responsibilities continued both inside and outside the company. Abdo Mohamed, a former Microsoft worker and organizer with No Azure for Apartheid, accused the company of militarizing its campus and using force to suppress dissent. “Microsoft continues to militarize its campus, to harass, brutally attack and violently arrest its workers and community members,” Mohamed told The Seattle Times. On the other side, Microsoft spokespersons reiterated that peaceful protest in public spaces is protected, but unlawful actions within company property would not be tolerated.
The emotional toll of the conflict in the Middle East was not lost on Smith, who concluded his remarks by acknowledging the suffering on both sides. He cited the 1,139 people killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the 251 hostages taken, and the estimated 61,000 civilians—including 17,000 children—who have died in Gaza since the war began. “We cannot do everything that we might wish to change the world, but we know our role,” Smith said. “We’re here to provide technology in a principled and ethical way.”
With investigations ongoing and security measures being re-evaluated, Microsoft now faces the dual challenge of maintaining workplace safety and upholding its stated commitments to ethics and human rights. The events of August 26 serve as a stark reminder that, in the digital age, the responsibilities of technology companies can extend far beyond code and contracts—sometimes right to the heart of global conflict and conscience.
