Dozens of workers gathered outside a Google-sponsored, pro-Israel surveillance conference to protest Amazon and Google’s $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel, called ‘Project Nimbus’

(New York City, NY)––This morning, a Google Cloud worker and an anti-Zionist Jewish organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC interrupted Google Israel Managing Director Barak Regev’s speech during an Israeli surveillance conference. Protestors demanded that Amazon and Google drop their $1.2 billion cloud contract with the Israeli military and government, dubbed ‘Project Nimbus’, and that the companies stop powering the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Community organizations endorsing the action included the Palestinian Youth Movement - NYC, Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC, MPower Change, Al-Awda, American Muslims for Palestine, SALAM, and NYC City Workers for Palestine.

The anonymous Google Cloud Software Engineer who disrupted the speech said, “As an engineer working on Google Cloud infrastructure, I was compelled to stand up in a room of decision-makers today and say that I refuse to build cloud technology for genocide, apartheid, and surveillance. The terms of Project Nimbus put our Palestinian users and coworkers in danger by leaving the door open for military use that violates our company’s professed values and my own ethics as an engineer. It’s my duty as an engineer to deliver this message in support of the stakeholders impacted by my work. As workers in Cloud, we cannot allow Google’s business leadership to use our labor to further oppress the Palestinian community, or any other communities targeted by cloud-powered apartheid.”

Minutes into Barak Regev’s speech, the Google Cloud worker stood up and yelled, “I refuse to build technology that powers genocide, apartheid, or surveillance.” The worker was shoved by a fellow conference goer, booed at, and forcefully escorted out by security. After a second disrupter, an anti-Zionist Jewish organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC, interrupted Regev’s speech, he ended his remarks early.

One reporter who filmed and shared a video of the disruptions on X was also forcefully removed from the conference. They posted, “Right after tweeting, a security guard said I had to leave. I asked why I had to leave, & took out my phone. He grabbed my phone, which I quickly took back. He grabbed both my arms & shoved me outside, then yanked my press badge from my neck.”

Outside the conference, dozens of Google workers and supporters gathered to voice their support for the disruptors, and opposition to Project Nimbus.

“Tech corporations like Amazon and Google are the new war profiteers. By doing business and providing advanced AI tech to the Israeli government and military, these two companies are enabling the world’s first AI-power genocide. Despite over two years of dissent from thousands of their own workers, Amazon and Google continue to put profit over people, fail to drop the Project Nimbus contract, and press forward in aiding and abetting the genocide of the Palestinian people. Today, brave Google workers disrupt a pro-genocide conference, refusing to allow their work to be used to power Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy have blood on their hands. We demand Amazon and Google heed their call, and drop the Project Nimbus contract today,” stated Lau Barrios, Senior Campaign Manager at MPower Change.

The surveillance conference, called ‘Mind The Tech’, was sponsored by corporations like Google and TikTok, as well as the Jerusalem government, and hosted in collaboration with the Israeli government. Panels and talks throughout the event spanned topics including “becoming an AI-driven nation,” “US-Israel defense”, and “challenges of aviation during times of war”. Speakers included politicians like New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion; corporate executives like the CEO of Bridgewater and the CTO of Blackstone; and others like the former Director of the NSA, and Randi Zuckerberg, sister to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

On the attendance of Eric Adams at the conference, a representative from NYC City Workers for Palestine said, “Eric Adams is not just complicit in the genocide of Palestinians; he is a collaborator. In addition to his current, unrelenting support for the genocidal state of Israel, throughout his term as mayor, Adams has overseen police training exchange programs with the IOF, and has endorsed the adaptation of Israeli drone technology for use by the NYPD. Instead of serving our communities, Adams seeks to institutionalize the same bloody methods terrorizing Palestinians. NYC City Workers for Palestine condemns the failed leadership of Adams. Furthermore, we call upon DC37 and other unions vested in the NYCERS pension to divest from the over $115 million in Israeli bonds and shares in corporations that profit from Israel’s war crimes.”

This protest was coordinated by the No Tech for Apartheid campaign, led by Amazon and Google workers, which has seen explosive growth in the past months. Thousands of Google, Amazon, and tech workers have voiced their opposition to Project Nimbus, Google and Amazon’s $1.2 billion cloud contract with the Israeli military and government.

“Tech companies and the billionaires who own them rarely pay taxes. But they do make massive profits from war, like the genocide in Gaza that is slaughtering our families. Coincidentally, the people paying for these wars are normal people through our own taxes. In this onslaught, we’ve witnessed how the weapons of death have been supercharged by technology. As Palestinians, we see clearly that tech companies have the blood of our people on their hands,” stated Munir Marwan of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

The campaign alleges that through the Project Nimbus contract, Google and Amazon are leading the world’s first AI powered genocide. A recent investigation by +972 Mag revealed that the Israeli military is using artificial intelligence to target and assassinate Palestinians in Gaza. While the reporting does not reveal the source of the technology, there is no guarantee Amazon and Google’s products are not being used to support this mass assassination effort.

“As New York City Jews, we are horrified by the Deadly Exchange of police weapons Mayor Eric Adams is promoting at this conference. Our struggles for liberation are interconnected. NYPD investments in this technology will increase surveillance and violence towards POC in this city. We refuse to have our safety as Jews co-opted by Israeli tech companies that are directly contributing to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” stated Asher Firestone of JVP-NYC.

Project Nimbus allows for the development and sale of high-tech software with an explicit military use-case to the apartheid state of Israel. Google workers have previously protested the contract; in response to ongoing scrutiny from Google workers, Amazon workers, and community members, a Google spokesperson admitted the Israeli military would have access to Google technology under the contract.

“Organizing a conference to promote the “merits” of the zionist high-tech sector is deplorable, given that the settler-colonial entity has consistently demonstrated a clear motive to employ its technological advancements for purposes of mass destruction, ethnic-cleansing, land appropriation, and violence. Drone surveillance of Palestinians is testing ground for surveillance technology used in NYC, with credit to the genocide abetter, Eric Adams. The Palestinian resistance revealed a truth that stands counter to the desired narrative of Zionist intelligence, demonstrating they are still weak, a reality they do not wish to acknowledge,” stated Mohamed, of Pal-Awda NY/NJ.

“Project Nimbus is a $1.2 billion cloud contract that has facilitated the use of technology to aid the Israeli occupation in their genocide targeting civilians in Gaza, including members of my own family & community. It’s not just a business deal; it’s a matter of life and death. It’s time for tech companies to grasp real-world impact, reconsider their choices, and prioritize humanity over profit. genocide. As they gather today to “mind the tech” we ask them to mind the thousands of Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli government," stated Zaid from American Muslims for Palestine - New Jersey.