Mucahithan Avcioglu
09 July 2026•Update: 09 July 2026
Pro-Palestine activists disrupted a presentation by Amazon Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels at a UN-linked artificial intelligence summit, accusing the company of providing cloud-computing and AI infrastructure used by Israel.
The protest took place during Vogels’ appearance at the “AI for Good” Global Summit in Geneva, organized by the International Telecommunication Union, according to footage shared by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the US social media company X.
Video from the event showed activists taking the stage as Vogels was speaking. One protester unfurled a banner reading: “No tech for apartheid.”
Another activist accused Amazon of profiting from Project Nimbus, a cloud-computing contract signed with Israel alongside Google. The protester claimed that the project gives Israeli authorities access to advanced cloud and machine-learning tools that can support military and surveillance operations.
The activist also alleged that technologies linked to the contract were used in Israeli military systems, including “Lavender” and “Where’s Daddy?" which have been accused by rights groups and media investigations of assisting in the identification and targeting of Palestinians in Gaza.
Security personnel removed the protesters from the stage as they chanted slogans calling on Amazon to cancel Project Nimbus.
Project Nimbus is a cloud-computing and machine-learning initiative designed to provide Israel with domestic cloud infrastructure, data storage, analysis and advanced computing capabilities.
The contract was awarded in April 2021 to Amazon Web Services and Google. Israel’s Finance Ministry said at the time that the project, valued at about $1.2 billion, would allow the country to establish local cloud data centers and expand government use of cloud technologies.
Pro-Palestine groups have repeatedly criticized major technology companies over contracts with Israel, arguing that their services may be used in military operations, surveillance and targeting systems.
