ALBAWABA - Recent events include the firing of a Cloud developer by Google for disrupting an anti-Israel technology event in New York with a protest. Barak Regev, the company's general manager in Israel, was giving a speech at the time.
In a widely shared video shot by independent journalist Caroline Haskins, the engineer—who was identified as a Google software engineer—was heard yelling, "I refuse to develop technologies that empower genocide or surveillance!" amid jeers from the crowd.
The former employee persisted in discussing the Nimbus Project, in which Google and Amazon are contracted to provide the Israeli military with innovative technology, including artificial intelligence, for a total of $1.2 billion. This is despite the fact that they were being led away by security.
This incident happens after a group of employees of the search engine giant wrote a letter to the firm last year, alleging "hate, harassment, and retaliation" suffered by Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian staff, and pushing them to cancel the Nimbus Project.
The engineer went on to criticize the Nimbus Project, saying, "Palestinian community members are put in danger by the Nimbus Project! I won't create technology that will be applied to cloud apartheid." Following his ejection from the premises, Regev spoke to the crowd, saying, "Embracing diverse opinions is part of the privilege of working at a company that represents democratic values." The former worker accused Google of complicity in genocide as she wrapped off her remarks.
The event was held in conjunction with the MindTheTech conference in New York, and the subject for this year seems to be "Standing with Israeli Technology" in light of the decline in foreign investment in Israel that has occurred since the Hamas attacks on October 7.
