Protested Against Providing AI And Cloud Services To Israeli Government, Google Fires 28 Employees In US

Google has terminated 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon.com Inc. to provide AI and cloud services to the Israeli government.

The protests, organised by the No Tech for Apartheid group, occurred at Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California. The protesters staged a nearly 10-hour sit-in, resulting in nine arrests for trespassing.

Following the protests, several employees received messages from Google's Employee Relations group informing them that they had been placed on leave.

Subsequently, they were informed that they were being dismissed from the company. Google stated that the protesters violated company policies by physically impeding other employees' work and preventing access to facilities as per a report by NDTV.

While Google has a history of supporting open debate, employee activism has tested this commitment in recent years.

Workers involved in a 2018 walkout over the handling of sexual assault allegations claimed they were punished for their activism. Additionally, four workers alleged they were fired for organising opposition to Google's work with federal Customs and Border Protection.