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Microsoft Corporation has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) against a Department of Defense contract awarded to Amazon.com Inc.
| Teleprinter | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 286.95 | +0.51 | + 0.18% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM, INC. | 3,292.11 | -28.57 | -0.86% |
The tech giant’s protest was filed on July 21 – two weeks after the Pentagon canceled Microsoft’s disputed Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud computing contract, saying the department determined the contract would not was more responsive to its needs due to “changing requirements, increased cloud mastery and industry advancements.”
PENTAGON CANCELS JEDI AGREEMENT LIKE AMAZON, MICROSOFT DUKE IT OUT
In its complaint, Microsoft alleges that the National Security Agency (NSA) did not conduct a proper assessment before awarding the contract to Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to Washington Technology.
The outlet, which first reported the filing, noted that the lucrative contract – codenamed “WildandStormy” – is worth nearly $ 10 billion.
The JEDI Cloud contract could also have been worth $ 10 billion and AWS initially challenged the original contract awarded to Microsoft, arguing that this decision was tainted with politics in 2019.
JEDI was supposed to store and process large amounts of classified data, allowing the U.S. military to improve communications with its soldiers and use artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate war planning and combat capabilities .
In July, Pentagon Chief Information Officer John Sherman told reporters that “the landscape has changed” with new possibilities for large-scale cloud services – the reason to start all over again.
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At this point, however, Sherman said AWS and Microsoft would “likely” be assigned part of the business, and JEDI would be replaced by a new program called Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability.
AWS and Microsoft have released statements supporting the Pentagon’s decision.
The GAO is expected to issue a ruling on the protest on October 29.
Citron Research author and editor Andrew Left on the future of Big Tech giant Amazon.
“The agency will respond to the protest in accordance with appropriate federal regulations,” an NSA spokesperson told Nextgov.
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A Microsoft spokesperson told FOX Business on Wednesday that the company would exercise its legal rights “in a prudent and responsible manner.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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