Google protesting employees arrested

Nine Google employees were arrested on Tuesday evening after participating in sit-ins at the company's offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California. These protests were part of a larger movement against Google's involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government to provide cloud computing services, including artificial intelligence tools, data centers, and other cloud infrastructure. The employees, associated with the 'No Tech for Apartheid' organization, demanded Google withdraw from this contract, citing concerns over the use of their work in what they describe as enabling an apartheid state and potential genocide in Gaza.

In Sunnyvale, protesters occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian for over nine hours, writing demands on his whiteboard and wearing shirts that read 'Googler against genocide.' In New York, the sit-in took place in a three-story common space. The protests were a response to Google and Amazon's joint contract, Project Nimbus, which has been a subject of contention since its signing in 2021. The escalation of protests over the past seven months coincides with continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces following cross-border attacks on Israel.

The arrested employees were charged with trespassing. Google responded by placing the employees on administrative leave and terminating their access to company systems, stating that physically obstructing other employees' work and denying them access to facilities is a violation of company policies. The company emphasized the importance of office safety, which led to law enforcement being called after repeated requests for the protesters to leave the premises were ignored.

The protests have garnered support from Google employees in other locations, including Seattle, and have been part of a broader series of actions, including internal emails, rallies outside company offices, and a "die-in" outside one of Google's buildings in San Francisco. These actions reflect a growing concern among some tech employees about the ethical implications of their work and the potential for technology to be used in military operations or human rights violations[1][2][3][4][5].

Citations:
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/16/google-sit-in-employee-protest-nimbus-israel/
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/17/google-workers-arrested-after-nine-hour-protest-in-google-cloud-ceos-office.html
[3] https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/antiisrael-google-employees-arrested-after-occupying-ceos-office-with-demands-against-apartheid-state-101713326348236.html
[4] https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/17/no_tech_for_apartheid_google_israel
[5] https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/17/24133056/google-protests-project-nimbus-no-tech-for-apartheid
[6] https://www.ktvu.com/news/googlers-against-genocide-protest-in-sunnyvale
[7] https://www.nationalreview.com/news/police-arrest-google-employees-who-staged-anti-israel-office-protests/
[8] https://www.yahoo.com/news/google-employees-arrested-protesting-tech-095012056.html