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    Newsmakers of the Week                                                   JUNE 26, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 32

                             NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

                       Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

                                   TULSI GABBARD                                                       SUNDAR PICHAI

                  DNI discloses US funding for                                  Stanford speech marred by walk out

                                global biolabs                                             from student protestors

                     ashington, DC: US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi   an Francisco, CA: Anti-zionist student protestors staged a walkout during
                     Gabbard on Thursday (local time) disclosed that the United States   Stanford University’s commencement speech which was being delivered
            Whas historically provided funding for more than 120 biological labo- Sby Google CEO and Stanford Alumna Sundar Pichai, Times of Israel
            ratories across over 30 countries.                                  reported on Monday.
                The revelation, supported by newly declassified documents, has prompt-  As per the Times of Israel, the university’s branch of Students for Justice
            ed a major policy shift from the Trump administration.              in Palestine, along with other protest groups had announced the protest last
                The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) statement   month noting that the walkout was in response to the tech company’s connec-
            indicated that many of these facilities have engaged in research involving   tions to Israel.
            hazardous and highly contagious pathogens, including “Gain-of-Function”   “We don’t need another tech billionaire to tell us how to get rich off of the
            research, with what the DNI described as minimal oversight.         killing and surveillance of Palestinians,” Stanford SJP said as per the Israeli
                “ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government   outlet. “Take a stance against war profiteering. Tell the Google CEO that he
            to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, to end danger-  is not welcome.”
            ous Gain-of-Function research that threatens the health and well-being of the   It noted that videos show dozens of students walking out of the commence-
            American people and people around the world,” Gabbard stated.       ment  ceremony,  holding  Palestinian  flags  and  chanting,  “Free  Palestine.”
                Declassified records highlight that over 40 laboratories in Ukraine were   Sundar Pichai, MS ‘95, CEO of Google and Alphabet, addressed the Class of
            involved in handling Soviet-era biological warfare pathogens. These facilities   2026 at Stanford’s 135th Commencement ceremony. In a speech Sunday morn-
            reportedly conducted research on Especially Dangerous Pathogens (EDPs),   ing Pichai discussed the many moments in life that shape a person’s trajectory.
            including anthrax, Ebola, MERS, SARS, and the plague.                   “If you are able to filter the signal through the noise, you can nudge your
                “Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact research on   life in these moments into having the impact you want”.
            dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health profes-  In his speech he shared personal anecdotes and offered advice to the
            sionals like Dr Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national   graduating students.
            security team lied to the American people about the existence of US-funded   “Choose optimism. This might not true to you at this moment. The world
            and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the   is going through a lot- global conflicts, economic anxiety, a rewiring of tech-
            truth,” Gabbard said.                                               nology, information overload, all at a fast pace... We don’t get to choose the
                The report cited instances such as the Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory,   world we graduate into, but we do get to choose how we frame our circum-
            which received USD 1,728,822 in funding while its permit for working with   stances,” Pichai told the students.
            specific pathogens remained listed as “in progress.”                    Pichai also told the students to work on the hard things and do the things
                In response to these findings, President Donald Trump has officially end-  that excite them.
            ed federal funding for Gain-of-Function research globally.              More than 20,000 people, including 3,600 students, gathered at Stanford
                DNI Gabbard criticised previous administrations and health officials, al-  Stadium to celebrate one of the university’s largest graduating classes ever.
            leging that they misled the public regarding the existence of these US-sup-  Times of Israel highlighted how American students have repeatedly
            ported biolabs. She reaffirmed the intelligence community’s commitment to   turned commencement ceremonies into anti-Israel protests since the October
            locating these labs and securing the pathogens within them to mitigate risks   7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, as well
            to global health.                                                   as before the war.                       Continued on next page... >>

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