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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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