Microsoft asked police to remove people who improperly entered a building at its headquarters in protest of the Israeli military's alleged use of the company's software as part of the invasion of Gaza.
On Tuesday, current and former Microsoft employees affiliated with the group No Azure for Apartheid started protesting inside a building on Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington, and gained entry into the office of Brad Smith, the company's president. The protesters delivered a court summons notice at his office, according to a statement from the group.
"Obviously, when seven folks do as they did today — storm a building, occupy an office, block other people out of the office, plant listening devices, even in crude form, in the form of telephones, cell phones hidden under couches and behind books — that's not OK," Smith told reporters during a briefing.
"When they're asked to leave and they refuse, that's not OK. That's why for those seven folks, the Redmond police literally had to take them out of the building."
Smith said that out of the seven people who entered his office, two were employees.
While the company doesn't retaliate against employees who express their views, Smith said, it's different if they make threats. Microsoft will look at whether to discipline the employees who participated in the protest, Smith said.
Once inside Microsoft's building 34, the No Azure For Apartheid protesters demanded that the company cut its ties with Israel and ask for an end to the country's alleged genocide.
Tech's megacap companies are doing more work with defense agencies, particularly as demand increases for advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Many of those activities were already controversial, but the issue has gotten more intense as Israel has escalated its military offensive in Gaza.
Last year Google fired 28 employees after some trespassed at the company's facilities. Some employees gained access to the office of Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google's cloud unit, which had a contract with Israel's government.
No Azure for Apartheid has held a series of actions this year, including at Microsoft's Build developer conference and at a celebration of the company's 50th anniversary. A Microsoft director reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the protests continued, Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday.
Last week, No Azure For Apartheid mounted protests around the company's campus, leading to 20 arrests in one day. Of the 20, 16 have never worked at Microsoft, Smith said.
The Guardian reported earlier this month that Israel's military used Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure to store Palestinians' phone calls, leading the company to authorize a third-party investigation into whether Israel has drawn on the company's technology for surveillance.
"I think the responsible step from us is clear in this kind of situation: to go investigate and get to the truth of how our services are being used," Smith said on Tuesday.
Most of Microsoft's work with the Israeli Defense Force involves cybersecurity for Israel, he said. He added that the company cares "deeply" about the people in Israel who died from the terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and the hostages who were taken, as well as the tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza who have died since from the war.
Microsoft intends to provide technology in an ethical way, Smith said.
WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith: AI is influencing the types of workers who are hired
