Google Fires 28 Employees for Protesting Project Nimbus Contract with Israeli Government
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has made headlines after firing 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, led by the No Tech for Apartheid organisation, took place across Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California.
Protesters staged a nearly 10-hour sit-in in New York and California, with some individuals being arrested on trespassing charges. Following the protests, several workers received messages from the company’s Employee Relations group informing them that they had been placed on leave. Subsequently, these employees were informed that they were being dismissed by the company.
Google representatives have not yet commented on the situation, but the activist group involved in the protests stated that they have not heard directly from any Google executives in their three years of organizing against Project Nimbus. This incident highlights the ongoing tension between employee activism and corporate policies within tech companies.
Despite the firings, employees demonstrating against Project Nimbus have reported an increase in support since the sit-in. The situation has sparked internal debate within Google about the Middle East conflict, with moderators locking down some threads on the topic due to heated discussions. The fallout from this incident underscores the challenges tech companies face in managing internal dissent and external partnerships.