Microsoft employee disrupts Satya Nadella’s keynote at Build 2025, here's why

Satya Nadella

A Microsoft employee interrupted CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote address at the company’s flagship developer conference, Build 2025, by shouting pro-Palestinian slogans and accusing the company of enabling war crimes through its cloud contracts with Israel.

The protest occurred moments after Nadella took the stage, when the employee stood up and shouted, “Free Palestine,” followed by allegations that Microsoft’s Azure platform was being used in operations against civilians in Gaza. “How about you show them how Microsoft is killing Palestinians? How about you show them how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?” the employee yelled before being removed by event security.

The protester was identified as Joe Lopez, who has worked for four years on Microsoft’s Azure hardware systems team. According to The Verge, Lopez followed the outburst with a company-wide email alleging that Microsoft leadership has ignored employee concerns about the ethical implications of its contracts with the Israeli military. “Leadership rejects our claims… Those of us who have been paying attention know that this is a bold-faced lie,” he wrote.

This marks the second such disruption targeting Nadella this year. During Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration earlier in 2025, similar protests occurred when former and current executives, including Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, appeared on stage. Another protest at that event targeted Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s head of AI, calling him a “war profiteer.”

Reports say the Build 2025 disruption was supported by the activist group ‘No Azure for Apartheid’, composed of current and former employees. A fired Google employee who previously protested against Google’s own cloud contract with Israel was also reportedly involved.

Microsoft has maintained that an internal review found no evidence that Azure or other technologies were used to harm civilians in Gaza.

Despite the interruption, Nadella continued his keynote presentation without responding directly to the protest.