Stanford Grads Protest as Google CEO Skips AI Discussion

WHO:

SFGATE - Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Stanford alumnus

SFGATE - Approximately 200 Stanford students

SFGATE - Activist Mahmoud Khalil, keynote speaker at the "People’s Commencement"

SFGATE - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

WHAT:

SFGATE - Sundar Pichai delivered the commencement address at Stanford University

SFGATE - Around 200 students walked out during Pichai's speech

SFGATE - Smaller groups waved banners, blew whistles, and waved Palestinian flags

SFGATE - Pro-Palestinian protesters condemned Google's $1.2 billion cloud-computing deal with Israel, known as Project Nimbus

SFGATE - Khalil was detained by ICE for over 100 days last year

NY Post - More than 100 students were seen leaving their seats at Stanford Stadium

WHERE:

SFGATE - Stanford University, Palo Alto, California

SFGATE - Stanford Stadium

WHEN:

SFGATE - The commencement ceremony took place on June 14, 2026

SFGATE - Khalil's detention occurred in 2024

WHY:

SFGATE - Protests were in response to Google's ties with the Israeli government and the company's actions regarding pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus

HOW:

SFGATE - Students organized a "People’s Commencement" as an alternative to the official ceremony

(UPDATED June 15, 2026 06:48 UTC)

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, delivered the commencement address at Stanford University, where approximately 200 students staged a walkout in protest. The demonstrators condemned Google's $1.2 billion cloud-computing deal with Israel, known as Project Nimbus, while smaller groups waved banners and Palestinian flags. Activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by ICE for over 100 days last year, was the keynote speaker at an alternative event organized by the students called the "People’s Commencement."