At least 200 Stanford graduates walked out of their commencement ceremony last weekend as Google CEO Sundar Pichai began his address, according to a BBC News report. The protest was part of a broader pattern of student actions at U.S. universities this spring, where commencement speakers who highlight artificial intelligence have faced boos and walkouts.
Pichai, who earned a master’s degree at Stanford, acknowledged the tension in his opening remarks. “People have 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 said, according to the BBC. “People thought it would be really difficult for me; it is the last two letters of my last name, after all.”
The speech continued amid chants of “free Palestine” and other slogans. Some students carried signs reading “ICE Spies With Google AI,” a reference to the company’s work with U.S. immigration enforcement. Others criticized Google’s Project Nimbus contract, which provides artificial intelligence tools to the Israeli military. Pichai walked in silence when the BBC asked for a response to the walkout after the ceremony.
One graduate who walked out but asked not to be identified told the BBC: “His presence represents what this political climate is empowering, and who is benefiting from the AI race. We cannot relate to him at all.” Some students who left the ceremony attended an alternative graduation event featuring pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a key figure in the 2024 Gaza war protests at Columbia University.
Despite the protests, graduates interviewed by the BBC expressed a wide range of views on AI. Ifdita Hasan, a graduating computer science and AI major, said she feels optimistic. “I think AI gives us the opportunity to learn more about the universe. It’s a tool that people should try to use and try to adapt to,” she said. She drew a parallel to the early days of the internet, noting that pessimism often accompanies new technologies.
Atash Heil, a graduate in Earth Systems, which focuses on environmental science and policy, said he is unsettled by the speed of AI’s arrival and the lack of ethical guardrails. “It’s already had such a big impact in such a small time,” Heil told the BBC. “It has to be done ethically, and it’s not being done ethically these days.”
Heil said he had just visited an exhibit of AI-generated art and found the experience jarring. “I thought it was scary, especially on my graduation day, to see that. The future is… that? I want art to be made by humans. That’s what makes it art, right?” he said. Despite his concerns, Heil said AI could be useful for training climate models, which aligns with his planned move to New Orleans to work on climate resilience.
Lucy Zimmerman, a computer science major who served as a teaching assistant, said she has noticed a gap between the quality of take-home work — often completed with the aid of AI, she suspects — and exam results. “I think it’s really impacted how people are learning,” she told the BBC. She said some classes have reintroduced proctoring and spoken-word tests to prevent cheating. She added that she is worried about future generations and her generation. She plans to work as a software engineer at a tech startup in San Francisco.
Psychology major Colbey Harlan said he has used AI for creative writing and found it helpful in overcoming ADHD-related challenges. But he expressed concern about the environmental cost of AI data centers. “I’m not a fan of how it’s destroying the environment. Data centres are taking a lot of resources, a lot of energy,” Harlan told the BBC. “I’m kind of at a point where it’s like – ‘Okay, AI is cool, but can we just stop progressing it?’ because if we continue, things are going to get out of control.”
Harry Kaplan, a graduate in Management Science and Engineering, said it is too early to judge AI’s impact. “It’s an exciting place to be. It feels like we’re at the edge of something,” he said.
The job market for recent graduates adds another layer of uncertainty. The BBC report cited a Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis that found recent college graduates are struggling to find work. A Stanford study published in November found that employment for early-career workers in fields considered most exposed to AI — including software development — has substantially fallen. Unsubstantiated rumors circulated on social media that students in Stanford’s computer science program have had trouble finding jobs. The university told the BBC it did not have statistics on job placement rates. Most graduates interviewed, however, said they had either secured a job or planned to continue their studies.
Stanford’s deep ties to the AI industry provide a backdrop for the graduates’ ambivalence. The term “artificial intelligence” was coined at Stanford by computer scientist John McCarthy. OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman dropped out of Stanford in 2005. A four-year undergraduate degree costs nearly $400,000 with expenses, and the university admits fewer than 4% of applicants.