Microsoft has dismissed two members of staff who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military. The company accused one of the workers in a termination letter of misconduct “designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event.” Microsoft said the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to depart five days early. The protests occurred on Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft’s AI ambitions.
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