Google Fires 28 Employees Over Protests Against $1.2 Billion Israel Contract

Google has terminated 28 employees who were involved in protests against the tech giant's $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, known as Project Nimbus. The workers staged sit-in demonstrations at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California on Tuesday, leading to the arrest of 9 employees on trespassing charges.

The protests were organized by a group called No Tech For Apartheid, which has accused Google of prioritizing the lucrative contract over the concerns of its own workers. The group claims that Project Nimbus, a joint venture with Amazon, provides custom AI and machine learning tools that enable human rights abuses by the Israeli military against Palestinians.

Google has defended the contract, stating that it is for "generally available cloud computing services" and is not directed at "highly sensitive or classified military workloads." However, the protesters dispute this characterization, citing reports that the contract includes services for Israel's Ministry of Defense.

The company said the protesters engaged in "completely unacceptable behavior" that prevented some workers from doing their jobs and created a threatening atmosphere. Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees against disrupting coworkers or using the company as a "personal platform" to debate political issues, emphasizing that this is a pivotal moment for Google's AI efforts.

Why this matters: The firings escalate long-simmering tensions between Google's management and activist employees over the company's business deals. The incident highlights the challenges tech giants face in balancing lucrative government contracts with the ethical concerns of their workers.

In an internal memo, Google Cloud VP of Global Security Chris Rackow said the company had conducted an investigation and found that the terminated employees had violated company policies.

No Tech For Apartheid called the firings a flagrant act of retaliation" and vowed to continue organizing protests until Google drops the Project Nimbus contract. "Google executives are genocide profiteers, and no number of fired workers will stop our movement," the group said in a statement. "We will continue to organize until Google respects the rights of its employees and cuts ties with the Israeli apartheid regime."

Key Takeaways

• Google terminated 28 employees who protested $1.2B Israel cloud contract
• Protesters accused contract of enabling human rights abuses against Palestinians
• Google defended contract as for "generally available cloud computing services"
• Firings escalate tensions between Google and activist employees over contracts
• No Tech For Apartheid vowed to continue protests until Google drops contract