Stanford University’s graduation ceremony witnessed an unexpected moment on Sunday when a group of students walked out while Google CEO Sundar Pichai was delivering his keynote address.
According to posts shared by activist groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and No Tech for Apartheid, the walkout was organised to protest Google’s reported contracts with the Israeli Defence Forces, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Several graduates reportedly stood up and left the venue together, briefly disrupting the ceremony as Pichai continued with his speech.
The protest highlighted growing concerns among students over the role of major technology companies in government and defence-related projects. Similar debates have been taking place across university campuses in the United States.
During his address, Pichai avoided speaking in detail about artificial intelligence or the latest developments in the tech industry. Instead, he focused on sharing life lessons and advice for students beginning their careers.
“I know today is about giving you all advice,” Pichai said. “But people have also been giving me a lot of advice on what to say. Actually, it’s been the same advice, and it’s about what not to say.”
Adding a touch of humour, he remarked, “People thought it would be really difficult for me. It is the last two letters of my last name, after all.”
Pichai also encouraged graduates to stay optimistic and shared memories from his early days in California during the 1990s, explaining how understanding different perspectives changed the way he saw things.
The incident comes at a time when concerns about AI and jobs are growing within the technology industry. Several tech leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, have warned that automation could affect entry-level jobs in the future.
However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently dismissed the idea that AI alone is responsible for job cuts, saying some companies are using it as an easy explanation for layoffs.
Pichai, a Stanford alumnus who has led Google since 2015, has previously described AI as one of the biggest technological shifts of modern times and said today’s graduates will both shape and experience its impact.
