Microsoft employees protest against $ 479 million contract signed by the military with HoloLens

The US military and Microsoft recently signed a $ 479 million contract for an "integrated visual augmentation system" with the HoloLens, but it turns out that not everyone has joined at the last agreement.

The deal was postponed until November, but a recent letter "HoloLens for Good, Not War" was sent to CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith.

On behalf of Microsoft workers, we are publishing an open letter to Brad Smith and Satya Nadella, calling for the cancellation of the IVAS contract and calling for stricter ethical rules.
If you are a Microsoft employee, you can log in at: //t.co/958AhvIHO5. pic.twitter.com/uUZ5P4FJ7X

– Microsoft Workers 4 Good (@ MsWorkers4) February 22, 2019

The above letter states: "We are alarmed by the fact that Microsoft is employing to provide weapon technology to the US military, helping its government to" increase lethality "to the US military. Using the tools we have designed, we are not committed to developing weapons and we are asking how our work is used. "

The letter then contains a list of requests addressed to the leaders in charge of this operation:

• Cancel the IVAS contract
• Stop developing any weapons technology and write a policy of use acceptable to the public, clarifying this commitment
• Appoint an external independent ethics committee with the power to publicly enforce and validate compliance with its acceptable use policy

The letter then details the progress of the transaction and what participating employees think of the rules of accessibility and forced participation. They added, "Microsoft's mission is to enable every person and organization on the planet to do more, but implicitly in this statement, we believe that Microsoft's mission is also to enable every person and organization on the planet to do good".

In a Guardian report, more than 50 employees are part of this event, others are more committed to supporting them over time. Although in the past, Microsoft has defended the agreement, with the growing number of employees unhappy, it will be interesting to see how the leaders react.

H / T PC Gamer