Technology leaders who have taken the podium as graduation speakers as of late may have figured out AI evangelizing isn’t polling well with young professionals, and tweaked their messaging accordingly. But it turns out, AI isn’t the only point of tension between high-powered speakers and graduates this commencement season.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is the latest tech executive to get the cold shoulder from graduates this year. Members of Stanford’s 2026 graduating class walked out of their ceremony on Sunday as Pichai, who holds a master’s degree from the university, took the stage.
The walk-outs were organized by the Stanford chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, a nationwide network of student-led activist groups advocating for Palestine’s liberation. In a statement published on Instagram, the chapter accused Google of allegedly collaborating with the Israeli government and companies like Palantir, the AI and analytics firm that has inked contracts supporting the Israeli military and the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement plan.
Activists have long criticized Google for Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract Israel signed with Google and Amazon in 2021, which grants the Israeli military access to sophisticated cloud computing and AI software. Google’s leadership has even been the target of protests from the company’s own employees, as multiple pro-Palestinian groups have organized in recent years.
