No Tech for Apartheid w/ Mohammad Khatami & Gabi Schubiner

08/29/24 • 56 min

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Paris Marx is joined by Mohammad Khatami and Gabi Schubiner to discuss the complicity of Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and how tech workers are organizing to stop it.
Mohammad Khatami and Gabi Schubiner are former Google software engineers and organizers with No Tech for Apartheid.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
Also mentioned in this episode:

Find out more about No Tech for Apartheid from their website. Microsoft workers have also launched No Azure for Apartheid.
Yuval Abraham reported on the Israeli military’s use of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft’s cloud services and AI in Gaza.
Mohammad wrote about being fired by Google in The New Arab.
Gabi refers to JWCC, with is a reference to the Department of Defense Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle.
Google fired 50 workers earlier this year for organizing over its ties to Israel.
The Information reported on how many Arab Americans in tech are scared to speak out in support of Palestinians for fear of retaliation.
In 1970, Polaroid workers under the banner of the Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement began the first anti-apartheid boycott of a US company by organizing against their employer’s complicity in South African apartheid.
The IBM Black Workers Alliance was central to the anti-apartheid campaign at that company.

Support the show

Find out more about No Tech for Apartheid from their website. Microsoft workers have also launched No Azure for Apartheid.
Yuval Abraham reported on the Israeli military’s use of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft’s cloud services and AI in Gaza.
Mohammad wrote about being fired by Google in The New Arab.
Gabi refers to JWCC, with is a reference to the Department of Defense Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle.
Google fired 50 workers earlier this year for organizing over its ties to Israel.
The Information reported on how many Arab Americans in tech are scared to speak out in support of Palestinians for fear of retaliation.
In 1970, Polaroid workers under the banner of the Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement began the first anti-apartheid boycott of a US company by organizing against their employer’s complicity in South African apartheid.
The IBM Black Workers Alliance was central to the anti-apartheid campaign at that company.

Support the show

Previous Episode

Crypto Is Spending Millions to Sway the US Election w/ Molly White

Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss why the crypto industry is spending millions on this election cycle and Coinbase’s potential breach of election finance law.
Molly White writes the Citation Needed newsletter. She is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and Follow the Crypto.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
Also mentioned in this episode:

Molly wrote about the Coinbase campaign finance violation and Donald Trump’s Bitcoin conference speech in her newsletter.
Paris wrote about some of the concerns about Kamala Harris’ stance on tech.
Fairshake spent $10 million on attacks ads against Katie Porter in California. It spent millions more targeting Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush.
The crypto industry hates SEC head Gary Gensler, who is leading the regulatory effort against cryptocurrency.

Support the show

Next Episode

Unionizing the Video Game Industry w/ Taylor Welling & Kathryn Friesen

Paris Marx is joined by Taylor Welling and Kathryn Friesen to discuss how they formed wall-to-wall unions in the video game industry and their thoughts on broader challenges like layoffs and corporate consolidation.
Taylor Welling is a producer and union member at OneBGS and Kathryn Friesen is quest designer and member of the World of Warcraft GameMakers Guild.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
Also mentioned in this episode:

OneBGS and the World of Warcraft GameMakers Guild each won their union votes in July 2024.
More video game workers have already been laid off in 2024 than did in all of 2023.
Microsoft and the Communication Workers of America signed a labor neutrality agreement in 2022, to take effect 60 days after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard closed. In May, that agreement was extended to ZeniMax Studios.
Microsoft laid off 1,900 gaming workers in January and closed four internal studios in May.
Blizzard provides swords, shields, and helmets to employees celebrating 5, 10, and 20 years at the company.
The ZeniMax Workers Union struck an agreement with their employer on the use of AI.
Nicole Carpenter at Polygon put together a list of video game unions and an explainer on the rise of video game unions.
Communication Workers of America has more information on unionizing as part of their CODE-CWA campaign.