About 200 Stanford Graduates Walk Out on Sundar Pichai Over Google's $1.2 Billion Project Nimbus
Updated
Updated · Fortune · Jun 15
About 200 Stanford Graduates Walk Out on Sundar Pichai Over Google's $1.2 Billion Project Nimbus
3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Jun 15
Summary
Around 200 Stanford graduates left Sunday’s commencement as Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the stage, in a protest organized by the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The group said Google’s $1.2 billion Project Nimbus contract with Israel links the company to military use of cloud and AI tools, including software critics say enables facial recognition and object tracking.
Pichai sidestepped another likely flashpoint by avoiding direct mention of AI in his speech, joking he had been told what not to say and calling the technology “truly immaterial” to his remarks.
The walkout was Stanford’s third commencement protest in as many years over Palestine and U.S.-Israel ties, extending pressure that has also fueled demonstrations by Google employees and boos for other tech speakers.
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Stanford’s 135th Commencement Walkout: Project Nimbus, Pro-Palestinian Activism, and Sundar Pichai’s Strategic Silence on AI
Overview
On June 14, 2026, Stanford University held its 135th commencement ceremony, featuring Google CEO Sundar Pichai as the keynote speaker. Pichai, a Stanford alumnus who earned his master’s degree in 1995, spoke about how computing changed his life and the excitement he finds in technology’s impact on people. His address came amid student protests over Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, a controversial partnership with the Israeli military. The event highlighted growing campus activism, calls for corporate responsibility, and concerns about technology’s role in society, especially as Pichai chose not to focus on artificial intelligence in his speech.