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Microsoft fires employee protestor who called AI boss a ‘war profiteer’
(www.theverge.com)
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this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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It was about sending a message.
What message was that? They work for Microsoft a company that has had DOD contracts for at least the last 25-30 years.
They were a war profiteer when this worker got their gig. Why is it a problem now?
Problems can be ongoing or increase in severity. Just because it’s been an issue for a while doesn’t mean it’s too late for change.
Also, some people don’t have the luxury to choose an ethical employer (if they even exist).
If you are in tech getting hired by microsoft you should have options
Ethical options?
You should be able to get hired by someone without defense contracts if that is what bothers you
....maybe.
Or, hear me out, the dude specifically applied for Microsoft with the intention of changing shit.
Do you think a non-executive hire has that ability? That’s a stretch IMO
Uh, yes? It's not about sending a message inside MS only. It was about sending it out there. See how we're discussing the story? Are we MS employees? Where's my 401K?
Direct participation in the military systems for a genocide is a tad further than the military industrial complex.
The message is that people participating in genocide will not be made at the very least very uncomfortable for doing so.
They had IDF contracts for decades as well. Seriously if they had a problem with this and this is not a PR stunt by this person they are choosing an odd time to make this statement.
An active mass genocide is an odd time to make a statement?
Microsoft lied about not supplying the IDF military cloud in the past.
And AI is a far more direct contribution to genocide than excel support.
Plenty of reasons to do it now. And better now than tomorrow.
Yes because their military work has been public for decades and it isn’t as if the IDF just started becoming problematic in 2023.
Literally this
It's like they are signaling to the world how virtuous they are
A kind of high ground moral messaging if you will
Exactly, I would get if you work for a company that just got involved in the military fields but this is microsoft.
Oh yeah, "modern day slavery has been a problem for years. Why be vocal about it now?"
Look, I am a cynical nobody, so I sometimes think "nothing will ever change." But some brave souls, more idealistic than me, take these steps with the hope that it will spark change - or at least it will put one more straw in the camel.
So yeah, it's about sending a message, and I think that's important.