On Tuesday, a protest was staged by Google employees outside the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, coinciding with the company's cloud conference. The demonstration targeted Google's involvement in the Nimbus Project, a cloud services initiative developed in Israel. The protest was reported by the Los Angeles Times, which noted that approximately 30 demonstrators intentionally blocked the street as conference attendees were exiting the venue, having concluded their day's workshops and events. The protesters went to the extent of chaining themselves to the convention center's fences and unfurling banners that denounced Google's collaboration with what they termed as the "Israeli government and apartheid."

The Nimbus Project, a deal worth an estimated $1.2 billion, was inked around two years ago. Under its terms, Google Cloud, along with Amazon's cloud division, AWS, will furnish cloud computing services to various Israeli institutions including the government, the Israel Defense Forces, and state-owned companies.

Remember that “anonymous letter” from “concerned employees” of Google and Amazon opposing the new cloud based Project Nimbus in #Israel? Turns out it was an organized smear campaign by #BDS groups Jewish Voice for Peace and MPower, whose the organizers also signed the letter. pic.twitter.com/KBxnGVHZTx

— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 18, 2021

Critics within Google argue that the company prioritized revenue from the deal over ethical concerns surrounding "morally dubious" transactions. Notably, Google's cloud division posted profits for the first time this year after nearly 15 years of operation. Whether the division's newfound profitability is directly linked to the protests remains an open question. Joshua Marksen, a software engineer at Google Cloud, expressed his reservations stating, "I am very concerned that Google has no qualms about whether they are willing to work with the Israeli government."

It's crucial to note that the focus of the Google employee protests is not solely on the company's activities in Israel. Over the past several years, Google staff have also withdrawn from agreements that the tech giant had made with various governments and U.S. federal agencies.

Tech workers are uniting in solidarity with the Palestinian call to end corporate complicity with Israel's apartheid.

As part of the intersectional #NoTechForApartheid campaign, Google and Amazon employees are mobilizing to end Project Nimbus.

Read more: https://t.co/jRZNMRGyHg

— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) August 22, 2023

According to international media reports, Google supplies Israel with several types of artificial intelligence capabilities. These include support for facial recognition, emotion recognition, and object tracking in videos. However, a spokesperson for Google has previously asserted that the company does not offer any capabilities intended for "sensitive or military use."

This issue is not unique to Google. Employees from other tech behemoths like Amazon and Microsoft have also staged protests in the past, objecting to their respective companies' operations in Israel and other countries they perceive as human rights violators.