Google’s I/O conference keynote yesterday (June 25th) didn’t exactly go down without a hitch, as it was interrupted by two different protesters.
While Google used the event to announce new hardware and services, such as the reveal of its first Android Wear smartwatch and a big update to the Android OS, the conference was brought to a halt by a protester brandishing a sign reading “Stop Jack Halprin,” and another ranting about Google funding killer robots.
Jack Halprin is a Google lawyer, who is also at the eye of the storm in a row with tenants of a San Francisco residential block he purchased. The protester help up the sign “stop Jack Halprin from evicting SF teachers,” and her tirade was met by Google engineer David Burke’s quip that the better battery life of Android phones would come in handy during a “long protest.”
After the first protest, another audience member stood up in the middle of the conference and began ranting about Google building “robots that kill people.” This was presumably in reference to Google’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics, a company that had worked alongside the US military in order to develop robotics for them. Google has stated that it will allow Boston Dynamics to honor exisiting contracts with the US military, though thus far none of the companies’ robots have killed people.
It costs $1000 per ticket for a seat in Google’s I/O keynote, so these people obviously felt passionate enough about their individual protests that they’d spend this large wad of cash on attended an event that they’d inevitably be kicked out of.
