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A group of Microsoft employees is asking the company not to produce weapons for the US military.
(Microsoft)
More than 150 Microsoft employees signed a letter demanding that the tech giant cancel a $ 480 million deal for the construction of a HoloLens for the Pentagon, saying they "refuse to create a technology for war and oppression ".
"We are alarmed by the fact that Microsoft is employing to provide weapon technology to the US military, thus helping the government of a country to" increase lethality "to the US. Using the tools we have designed.We have not committed ourselves to developing weapons and we are asking that our work be used. "The letter sent to Twitter, addressed to Twitter, was addressed to Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO and President Brad Smith.
Employees represent the last major technology conflict from Silicon Valley itself, as they demand more power over the way technology products are used and the internal processing of various groups.
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In November, according to Microsoft employees, the company had a major contract with the US military to "quickly develop, test, and build a unique platform for soldiers to fight, rehearse, and engage in combat." It will lead to the lethality, mobility and situational awareness necessary to achieve an over-match against our current and future adversaries. "
Workers demand that Microsoft terminate the contract, stop developing any weapons technology, develop a publicly available policy on the acceptable use of these technologies, and appoint an independent external ethics review committee with the power to enforce the rules. .
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Microsoft HoloLens have a range of potential applications in non-military environments, including hospitals, factories, and schools.
In October, Smith published a blog to support the work of the tech giant at the military. He writes: "We believe in the defense of the United States and we want those who defend it to have access to the best technology in the country, including Microsoft."
A number of Google employees resigned last year because of the company's Pentagon AI project. Mountain View, California, finally pulled out. In October, a group of 450 Amazon employees protested the sale of the company's facial recognition software to law enforcement.
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A Microsoft spokesman told Fox News Sunday the following statement:
"We have looked into this issue carefully and presented our perspective in a blog of October 2018. We always appreciate employee feedback and offer them many opportunities to make their voices heard. Many employees throughout the fall .We are committed to providing our technology to the US Department of Defense, which includes the US Army under this contract.As we have also said, we will remain committed as active citizens in the fight against important ethical and public policies, issues related to artificial intelligence and the army. "
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