Student protesters interrupt Nvidia climate panel during NYC Climate Week
Student protesters interrupted a Nvidia panel in Manhattan, raising concerns about data centres and the company’s ties with Israel.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Student protesters interrupted an Nvidia climate panel in Manhattan during NYC Climate Week on September 23, according to Al Jazeera and footage reporting syndicated by Yahoo. The nvidia climate panel protest focused on the environmental effects of data centres and protesters’ concerns about the company’s ties with Israel.
Nvidia’s head of sustainability, Josh Parker, was speaking when demonstrators disrupted the session, Storyful reported. Footage shared by the Sunrise Movement showed several people speaking out during the event.
Why did protesters interrupt the Nvidia climate panel?
Al Jazeera reported that the students shouted about the environmental impact of data centres and Nvidia’s business links with Israel. Storyful’s report said one protester accused corporations and data centres of contributing to climate disaster.
Other protesters made claims about Nvidia’s emissions, a reported investment arrangement with Israel and possible use of Nvidia chips by the Israeli military, according to Storyful. Those assertions were made by protesters in the footage and were not independently established in the reports.
Parker was quoted in the Storyful report saying Nvidia was at Climate Week because it cared about the climate. The reports did not include a further response from Nvidia or NYC Climate Week, and did not say whether anyone was arrested or injured, how long the disruption lasted, or the panel’s exact title and venue.
Was this the same as another NYC Climate Week protest?
No. A separately described disruption took place on September 22 at The Nest Campus gathering at Manhattan’s Javits Center, according to a video report. That event involved a panel featuring representatives from Salesforce, Emerald AI and Crusoe, rather than Nvidia.
The report identified that panel as “Unlocking the grid: An AI solution for an AI problem” and attributed the action to Extinction Rebellion NYC. Its description should not be treated as an account of the Nvidia-panel interruption.
Al Jazeera’s video report on the Nvidia disruption was published September 26.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.