Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was interrupted during a 50-year celebration livestreamed at the company’s headquarters by a Microsoft employee who protested the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools used by military forces involved in the Gaza war.

Suleyman began presenting a series of new features that Microsoft is adding to its AI software Copilot when a young woman described by those present at the event as wearing a hijab stood up and shouted out her opinions. “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military [and] 50,000 people have died,” she said, adding: “You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military.”

She went on to ask how Microsoft can celebrate, and accused the company of killing children. Those in attendance said she held a checkered scarf suggesting support for Palestinians.

The Verge reported that the woman had for the past 3.5 years been a software engineer at Microsoft.

"I spoke up today because after learning that my org was powering the genocide of my people in Palestine, I saw no other moral choice," she wrote in the email. "This is especially true when I’ve witnessed how Microsoft has tried to quell and suppress any dissent from my coworkers who tried to raise this issue. For the past year and a half, our Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim community at Microsoft has been silenced, intimidated, harassed, and doxxed, with impunity from Microsoft. Attempts at speaking up at best fell on deaf ears, and at worst, led to the firing of two employees for simply holding a vigil. There was simply no other way to make our voices heard."

There is “a $133 million contract between Microsoft and Israel’s Ministry of Defense," according to AP news. 

I tuned in to the streaming event to hear about Microsoft's advancements and not about a protester's views. When presented in this setting and in this context, the event distracts attendees from her ideas and opinions.

"Copilot will understand you in the context of your life, and show up, on your terms, in the right way at the right time," Suleyman wrote in a blog post. "This is far richer, more dynamic, supportive and emergent than any software we’ve seen before. It’s a new kind of relationship with technology, a new era."

Today was a day of celebration and achievements for the company. Fifty years ago when Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the startup "Micro-Soft" to build microprocessors and software they had no idea that on April 4, 1975, they would create a powerhouse not only for software and hardware, but also artificial intelligence (AI).

Gates and Allen created the company to develop software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer, and then went on to form a partnership with IBM to provide software for its first PC in 1980, which became the foundation of MS-DOS.

The move supported IBM-compatible PCs during the 1980s. Microsoft’s early success in developing software for PCs eventually led to the first version of Windows in 1985 and Gate's dream of a personal computer on every desk. Apple, founded on April 1, 1976, didn't have the clout at the time, and it was known more for its design and creative features.

Microsoft celebrated its 50-year anniversary Friday during a special event at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The software maker unveiled new Copilot features, along with flashbacks special guest speakers from the past.