"We will not be war profiteers": Microsoft workers protest $ 480 million military contract | Technology

Microsoft workers ask their employer to cancel a $ 480 million contract to provide the US military with Augmented Headsets, saying they "do not want to become war profiteers" ".

"We did not register to develop weapons and we ask our opinion on how our work is used," reads a petition circulating inside the company and a copy was provided to the Guardian under cover of anonymity. More than 50 employees signed the letter Friday afternoon, according to an employee.

The employee protest is the latest manifestation of a growing trade union movement in the American technology industry. Employees of companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Salesforce are increasingly talking about both their own working conditions and the uses their employees bring to their products.

The Microsoft HoloLens headset, a $ 3,000 headset between Google Glbad and the fully immersive Oculus, was developed from a technology called Kinect, built into the company's Xbox video game system.

Many engineers who worked on the construction of the technology thought "that it would be used to help architects and engineers build buildings and cars, teach people how to perform surgery or at work. piano, pushing the boundaries of the game and Mars Rover (RIP), "says the letter.

According to the terms of the military contract, devices will be used to "increase lethality by improving the ability to detect, decide and engage in front of the enemy," according to Bloomberg.

"While [Microsoft] Previously, technology was licensed to the US military, it never crossed the line of weapons development, "says the letter. "With this contract, that's the case. The HoloLens application in the IVAS system is designed to help people kill. It will be deployed on the battlefield and will work by transforming the war into a simulated "video game", further removing soldiers from the enormous stakes of war and the reality of bloodshed. "

In addition to canceling the HoloLens contracts, the letter calls on Microsoft to stop working on "all weapons technologies", to create a public "acceptable use policy" codifying such a commitment and to create an "independent external committee for ethical evaluation". "To enforce such a policy.

In June 2018, more than 100 Microsoft employees signed a petition to protest their employer's contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And in October, anonymous employees published an open letter on Medium asking the company not to bid for a large-scale contract for the creation of cloud services for the Ministry of Defense.

At the time, Microsoft President Brad Smith had defended the company's decision to support the US military by writing in a blog post: "We want the citizens of this country, and in especially those who serve this country, know that at Microsoft we have their backs. He also said that Microsoft would advocate for policies and laws to ensure that the technology is used "in a responsible and ethical manner" and that the company "would support talent mobility" for employees who did not want to work on certain projects "for whatever reason. for whatever reason.

The Guardian has contacted Microsoft for comments.