Google CEO and Stanford alumnus Sundar Pichai faces student protests at university’s commencement ceremony | Video

Stanford University’s commencement ceremony on Sunday was disrupted when a group of students walked out during Google chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai’s address. Videos circulating on social media showed a large number of students leaving the stadium in their graduation gowns and caps, while Pichai continued delivering his speech.

According to a New York Post report, several students chanted “Free, free Palestine” slogans.

“I must warn you all, this is only the second commencement speech that I have ever given. The first was literally in my backyard,” Pichai can be heard saying.

Pichai, a Stanford alumnus, faced protests from a section of graduates over Google’s contract with the Israeli government.

Protest centred on Project Nimbus

While Pichai largely steered clear of artificial intelligence during his keynote address – despite the subject often drawing criticism at public events – he nevertheless faced protests over Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus.

Project Nimbus is a $1.2 billion cloud computing and AI contract awarded by the Israeli government to Google and Amazon. Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine had announced the walkout several weeks earlier, arguing that the project supports the Israeli government’s operations amid the continuing conflict in Gaza.

Pichai’s message focused on optimism

Rather than speaking about AI, Pichai centred his remarks on optimism.

“Choose optimism,” he told students at the graduation ceremony. “It’s easy to look at the news of the day and think that we’re living in uniquely challenging times. For me, it’s helpful to remember that each generation has faced hardship in their own way. We don’t get to choose the world we graduate into, but we do get to choose how we frame our circumstances.”

Stanford alumnus returns as keynote speaker

Pichai, who earned a master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 1995, was selected earlier this year as the keynote speaker for the university’s 135th commencement ceremony, held on 14 June.

Pichai declines to respond to questions on the protest

Later, as he exited Stanford Stadium, a BBC journalist approached him and asked whether he had any response to the student protest. Pichai declined to comment and continued walking without answering.

“Mr Pichai, any reaction to the protestors today?” the journalist was heard asking. However, Pichai turned away and ignored the question.

After leaving the ceremony, many students attended a separate gathering known as the “People’s Commencement”, which featured Mahmoud Khalil as its keynote speaker, according to SFGate.

Khalil was detained by US immigration authorities for more than 100 days in connection with his involvement in pro-Palestine activism at Columbia University in 2024.