Google Fires 28 Employees Involved in Anti-Project Nimbus Protests

Published: 18 April 2024 at 04:48

Business

Google has terminated 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a joint contract with Amazon to provide AI and cloud services to the Israeli government. The protests, organized by the No Tech for Apartheid group, occurred in Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, with some protesters arrested for trespassing. The employees were initially put on leave and later dismissed for impeding work and violating company policies. Google stated it values open debate but found the protesters' actions unacceptable.

DEEP DIVE

Google employees arrested after protesting company's $1.2B contract with Israeli government

Nine Google employees were arrested after staging demonstrations at the company's offices in California and New York, protesting Google's involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Israeli government contract for cloud computing services. The workers called on Google to cancel the contract, citing concerns about technology being used in ways that conflict with their values. The protests were reignited by reports of Google providing cloud services to the Israeli Military of Defense, despite Google stating that Project Nimbus is not related to the Israeli military.

Workers Protest Google's Ties to Israel Over Project Nimbus Contract

More than 10 workers staged a sit-in at Google's NYC headquarters and Cloud CEO's office in California to demand the company drop its $1.2 billion Project Nimbus contract with Israel. No Tech for Apartheid seeks transparency on how Israel's military uses Google's services. The movement within Google is growing as current and former employees speak out. Protests outside Google's NYC office resulted in some employees refusing to leave during the sit-in.

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley criticizes Google employees protesting ties to Israel

Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley criticized Google employees for protesting the tech giant's ties to Israel, denouncing their actions as a sense of entitlement that exceeds free speech boundaries. The employees organized sit-ins across Google offices to oppose the company's contract with the Israeli military, alleging complicity in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The tech workers objected to Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon, and Israel, expressing concerns that Israeli military might misuse Google technology for "genocidal means."

Google engineer fired for protesting company's partnership with Israeli government

A Google engineer wearing an orange Google shirt disrupted a tech conference in NYC by protesting Google's partnership with the Israeli government in providing cloud services for the military and government through Project Nimbus, leading to his termination. The engineer cited concerns about technology fueling genocide and surveillance. This incident adds to the ongoing criticism Google faces for its relationship with Israel, with employees and the public expressing discontent.

Google is laying off employees in specific departments as it focuses on cost-cutting and efficiency improvements

Google, owned by Alphabet, is implementing layoffs in specific departments to improve efficiency and cut costs. The affected employees can apply for internal roles, with some roles moving to hubs in India, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dublin. Job cuts across various teams including real estate and finance have been reported. Google's finance chief mentioned expansion plans in Bangalore, Mexico City, and Dublin. Earlier layoffs in January impacted engineering, hardware, and assistant teams as Google advances its artificial intelligence initiatives. CEO Sundar Pichai had forewarned of more job cuts at the start of the year.

Project Nimbus (Wikipedia)

Project Nimbus (Hebrew: פרויקט נימבוס) is a cloud computing project of the Israeli government and its military. The Israeli Finance Ministry announced April 2021, that the contract is to provide "the government, the defense establishment, and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution." Under the contract, the companies will establish local cloud sites that will "keep information within Israel's borders under strict security guidelines."Project Nimbus has four planned phases: the first is purchasing and constructing the cloud infrastructure, the second is crafting government policy for moving operations onto the cloud, the third is moving operations to the cloud, and the fourth is implementing and optimizing cloud operations. Under a $1.2 billion contract, technology companies Google (Google Cloud Platform) and Amazon (Amazon Web Services) were selected to provide Israeli government agencies with cloud computing services, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.The terms Israel set for the project contractually forbid Amazon and Google from halting services due to boycott pressure. The tech companies are also forbidden from denying service to any particular government entities.

US Federal Agencies Urged to Investigate Google's Removal of Links to California News Media Outlets

The News/Media Alliance, representing over 2,200 publishers, has asked US federal agencies to investigate Google's removal of links to California news media outlets in response to the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA). Google's VP of Global News Partnerships warned against the CJPA, stating it could disadvantage small publishers and limit consumer access to a diverse local media ecosystem. Google described the link removal as a test to understand the potential impact of the legislation on its platform.

Google (Wikipedia)

Google LLC ( , GOO-ghəl) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial intelligence (AI). It has been referred to as "the most powerful company in the world" and as one of the world's most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the field of AI. Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. is one of the five Big Tech companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14% of its publicly listed shares and control 56% of its stockholder voting power through super-voting stock. The company went public via an initial public offering (IPO) in 2004. In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Google is Alphabet's largest subsidiary and is a holding company for Alphabet's internet properties and interests. Sundar Pichai was appointed CEO of Google on October 24, 2015, replacing Larry Page, who became the CEO of Alphabet. On December 3, 2019, Pichai also became the CEO of Alphabet.The company has since rapidly grown to offer a multitude of products and services beyond Google Search, many of which hold dominant market positions. These products address a wide range of use cases, including email (Gmail), navigation (Waze & Maps), cloud computing (Cloud), web browsing (Chrome), video sharing (YouTube), productivity (Workspace), operating systems (Android), cloud storage (Drive), language translation (Translate), photo storage (Photos), video calling (Meet), smart home (Nest), smartphones (Pixel), wearable technology (Pixel Watch & Fitbit), music streaming (YouTube Music), video on demand (YouTube TV), AI (Google Assistant & Gemini), machine learning APIs (TensorFlow), AI chips (TPU), and more. Discontinued Google products include gaming (Stadia), Glass, Google+, Reader, Play Music, Nexus, Hangouts, and Inbox by Gmail.Google's other ventures outside of Internet services and consumer electronics include quantum computing (Sycamore), self-driving cars (Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project), smart cities (Sidewalk Labs), and transformer models (Google Deepmind).Google and YouTube are the two most visited websites worldwide followed by Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter). Google is also the largest search engine, mapping and navigation application, email provider, office suite, video sharing platform, photo and cloud storage provider, mobile operating system, web browser, ML framework, and AI virtual assistant provider in the world as measured by market share. On the list of most valuable brands, Google is ranked second by Forbes and fourth by Interbrand. It has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns, tax avoidance, censorship, search neutrality, antitrust and abuse of its monopoly position.

Google+ (Wikipedia)

Google+ (sometimes: written as Google Plus, stylized as G+ or g+/⁺) was a social network that was owned and operated by Google until it ceased operations in 2019. The network was launched on June 28, 2011, in an attempt to challenge other social networks, linking other Google products like Google Drive, Blogger and YouTube. The service, Google's fourth foray into social networking, experienced strong growth in its initial years, although usage statistics varied, depending on how the service was defined. Three Google executives oversaw the service, which underwent substantial changes that led to a redesign in November 2015.Due to low user engagement and disclosed software design flaws that potentially allowed outside developers access to personal information of its users, the Google+ developer API was discontinued on March 7, 2019, and Google+ was shut down for business and personal use on April 2, 2019.

Criticism of Amazon (Wikipedia)

Amazon.com has been criticized, with questions raised about the ethics of the company's business practices and policies. Amazon has faced allegations of anti-competitive or monopolistic behavior and criticism of its treatment of workers and consumers. Concerns have been raised about the availability of products and services on Amazon platforms. In September 2023, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using "a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies".

Anti-Israel Protests Disrupt Traffic in Cities Across the US

Recent anti-Israel protests in various cities across the United States, including California, New York City, and Chicago, have led to disruptions in traffic and confrontations between protesters and authorities. Demonstrators were seen chanting slogans against Israel and carrying watermelon balloons as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. The protests have caused delays in transportation, with some culminating in arrests as authorities work to disperse the crowds.

Columbia University student suspended for using fart spray at rally

A Jewish Columbia University student named John Doe was suspended for discharging novelty fart sprays during an anti-Israel rally, claiming his actions were harmless expressions of speech. The student bought the gag gifts on Amazon and sprayed them into the air, not at anyone in particular. Following the incident, the suspended student faced accusations of disruptive behavior, harassment, and endangerment. The lawsuit filed against Columbia University accuses the institution of selectively enforcing policies and violating civil rights laws. The student, a former Israeli military member, faced backlash and threats after the incident.