Mustafa Suleyman

At Aspen Ideas Festival in June 2024, stated that open web content has been "fair use" since the 90s and "anyone can copy it, recreate with it, reproduce with it," sparking controversy over AI training data. Later warned about AI convincing users it is "thinking, feeling, and having subjective experiences," called AI consciousness research "dangerous," and published a 37-page "AI is Artificial" code of conduct at Microsoft stating models are not conscious. Criticized Anthropic's approach to Claude consciousness questions as "very dangerous."

At Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration in April 2025, a pro-Palestinian employee interrupted his presentation shouting "Mustafa, shame on you" and accusing Microsoft of selling "AI weapons to the Israeli military" and that "fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide." Suleyman responded calmly: "Thank you for your protest, I hear you."

Placed on administrative leave from DeepMind in August 2019 following multiple bullying complaints. Employees alleged screaming at colleagues in front of others, sending abusive emails to subordinates, and issuing arbitrary directives. Google launched an external legal investigation. DeepMind leadership confirmed his "management style fell short" of expected standards. Later apologized, took time off, and worked with a coach before departing Google in 2022.