California : Stanford University’s graduation ceremony on Sunday saw an unexpected disruption when a group of students left the venue while Google CEO Sundar Pichai was delivering his keynote speech. The disruption was linked to activist groups present at the ceremony. A post shared by the BreakThrough News handle stated that groups including Students for Justice in Palestine and No Tech for Apartheid organised the walkout.
Several graduates reportedly stood up and exited together, drawing attention inside the auditorium as the keynote continued. The moment added to ongoing discussions on US campuses, where students have been questioning the involvement of major tech firms in government and defence-related work. Sundar Pichai’s speech avoided detailed discussion of AI or industry developments, even though AI has been a frequent topic at graduation events elsewhere in the US.
I know today is about giving you all advice,” Pichai told graduates. “But people have also been giving me a lot of advice on what to say. Actually, it’s been the same advice, and it’s about what not to say. He also added a light remark during his address, saying, “People thought it would be really difficult for me. It is the last two letters of my last name, after all.” Several companies have also reduced workforce size while linking part of the changes to AI adoption, adding uncertainty for new graduates entering the job market.
“I think the narrative that connects AI to job loss for many of the CEOs that are doing it, it is just too lazy,” Huang told Singapore broadcaster CNA. Pichai, who has led Google since 2015 and is also a Stanford alumnus, has previously said that AI represents a major technological change for the industry, and that the current generation of graduates will both build and live through its impact.
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