Google has a contract with the Israeli government to provide cloud computing services to the country. Not all his Google employees are happy about this.
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Alexander Kellner/Getty Images
Google has a contract with the Israeli government to provide cloud computing services to the country. Not all his Google employees are happy about this.
Alexander Kellner/Getty Images
Zelda Montez first heard about Google’s Project Nimbus about six months ago, even though she’s been working at the company since 2022. The project is her $1.2 billion contract to supply cloud computing services to Israel.
As someone who opposes the war in Gaza, Montes said he was shocked. This comes at a time when tensions over the Israeli conflict smolder across the country.
“I think this speaks volumes about how much people in the workplace actually know about this deal,” said Montes, who previously worked as a software engineer at Google’s YouTube.
Montes soon joined a Google employee group called No Tech for Apartheid, which had been organizing around Project Nimbus since 2021. Their goal is for Google to break its contract with the Israeli government. She said the group voiced its concerns to Google leadership, spoke at company town halls and set up a table with flyers about Project Nimbus in Google’s offices.
But, she says, “Google quite literally silenced our voices in the workplace and did not allow workers to express any dissent on the project.”
So on Tuesday, the group took another step forward.
they performed sit-in protest More than 100 protesters showed up at Google’s offices in Silicon Valley, New York City, and Seattle. The next day, Google fired Montes and 27 other employees who were members of the “No Technology for Apartheid” group.
This is one of several mass layoffs seen in the tech industry and comes as many Silicon Valley companies are collaborating with Israel. Some employees say it makes them uncomfortable.
Workers at Meta, the parent company of Amazon and Facebook, have also spoken out against the war and clashed with their employers. Last month, Google fired another software engineer who protested at a technology event in Israel.
When asked about Tuesday’s demonstrators, a Google spokesperson told NPR in an email: “It is clear that our employees are physically interfering with the work of other employees and blocking access to our facilities.” This is a violation of policy and completely unacceptable behavior. After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement engaged in removing them to ensure the security of the office.”
Project Nimbus and cloud computing
Google partnered with Amazon and began contracting with the Israeli government for Project Nimbus in 2021. Last week, Time magazine obtained internal documents showing that the Israeli Ministry of Defense signed a contract with Google as recently as last month.
A Google spokesperson said the company’s cloud services support several governments around the world, including Israel. A spokesperson said Project Nimbus is for government departments and that “this work is not intended for highly sensitive classified or military work related to weapons or intelligence services.”
The No Technology for Apartheid group says it is still unclear how the technology will be used in Israel, as the project has not been defined. They say they fear it could be used in the war in Gaza and used as a weapon against Palestinian civilians.
“Workers have a right to know how their labor is being used, and a voice to ensure the technology they build is not used to cause harm,” the group said in a statement. “I have a right to have that,” he said.
Arrest and dismissal of workers
Around noon on the day of the sit-in, Montes said he and other protesters at Google’s New York office unfurled a 15-foot-tall banner reading “Genocide Doesn’t Need Technology” on an open staircase. (Israel insists it was fighting in self-defense and rejects claims of genocide).
They sat and played the card game Uno until Google security approached them. Montes said they were then told to leave or face arrest, but police did not arrive until about eight hours later.
“It was a very strange energy because we kept thinking, ‘Are we going to call the police now?'” Montes said, recalling that day.
By the time the police arrived, it was already night and most people had left the office. They handcuffed the four protesters, including Montez, who refused to leave the building, walked them to a freight elevator and then to a garage where a police van was waiting. The group spent about three and a half hours in jail.
A total of nine protesters were arrested in California and New York. Google began laying off employees the next evening. Montes said he was initially placed on leave, but then received an email saying he had been fired.
The email said she violated “Google’s Code of Conduct” and “Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Policies” during Tuesday’s event.
According to No Tech for Apartheid, some of the fired Google employees did not participate in this week’s protests. A Google spokesperson said the company is investigating employees individually.
A spokesperson said, “So far, the individual investigations leading to the dismissal of 28 employees have been completed, and we will continue to investigate and take action as necessary.”
Montes insists the shootings are a scare tactic and are ineffective. “Workers are upset and we are organizing,” she said, adding that even though she was fired, “we are going to keep organizing until this project is canceled.” ” she said.
Editor’s note: Google and Amazon are among NPR’s financial supporters.
