3 min readNew DelhiJun 15, 2026 10:36 AM IST
First published on: Jun 15, 2026 at 10:36 AM IST
Stanford University students staged a walkout during its 2026 commencement ceremony Sunday as Google CEO Sundar Pichai began delivering his keynote address. The students protested the tech giant’s involvement in a controversial cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.
More than 100 students left their seats at Stanford Stadium while chanting “Free, free Palestine” during a demonstration organised by Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, the New York Post reported.
The viral video shows students walking out of the stadium, with one of them seen carrying a Palestinian flag.
Watch here:
The video quickly gained traction, drawing a wave of reactions. “Total failure by Stanford admissions to choose these students over the tens of thousands of applicants who would not have been this entitled, hateful and disrespectful,” a user wrote.
Social media reactions
Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman and venture capitalist, slammed the students, calling them “short-sighted” and “very selfish.”
“The stupidity of these @Stanford students to take the greatest opportunity for equality in humanity ever and to really free humanity and go walk out on @google and @sundarpichai that’s pioneered that. Biased, idiotic, short-sighted and very selfish. Selfish because they ignored the bottom 3 billion people on this planet that could benefit from AI and they are worried about their misinformed selfish self-interest,” Khosla wrote.
Sundar Pichai refuses to comment
Following the event, Pichai declined to comment on the protest. As he exited Stanford Stadium, a BBC journalist asked, “Mr Pichai, any reaction to the protesters today?” Pichai walked away without addressing the question.
The protest was aimed at Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing and AI contract awarded jointly to Google and Amazon by the Israeli government. Student activists had announced the walkout weeks ahead of the graduation ceremony, arguing that the project supports Israeli government operations amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the report added.
Student activists had announced the walkout weeks ahead of the graduation ceremony (Photo: @maattttbrown/X) 
Share
