Microsoft Corp revealed to have won a contract to work with the US Army, noting another additional deal to Microsoft’s hands. Through the new deal, Microsoft will sell augmented reality headsets to the US Army. Microsoft bases the headsets are based on its HoloLens product. A product that is also backed by its Azure cloud computing services.
A Microsoft spokesman told Reuters that the contract might worth up to $21.88 billion over 10 years. For the past two years, Microsoft has actively participated in developing the prototype of what the Army names as Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). Microsoft further elaborated on Wednesday that the Army has now passed onto the next phase of the project: production. The company further mentioned that it will proceed with the headsets manufacture in the United States.
According to Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman, Microsoft specially designed the headsets for the Army. Kipman explained through a blogpost that the headsets are designed to deliver“enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios,” Reuters quotes.
In addition to the partnership with the US Army, Microsoft was in line to secure the $10 billion contract with the Pentagon. The deal involves the JEDI cloud computing project. However, the lawsuit filed by Amazon caused a dispute prior to finalizing the contract. As a result, Pentagon officials requested the US lawmakers to allow the Defense Department to jettison the contract in case the dispute lingers in the court.
Microsoft workers express concerns over the new project with the US Army
While the deal sounds like a promising project for Microsoft, its workers think the opposite. At least 94 workers have reportedly petitioned the company to cancel the deal. They also requested the company to stop developing “any and all weapons technologies,” Reuters quotes. This had happened back in 2018 when Microsoft first announced its partnership to supply prototypes to the US Army.
The strike from the days is back. On Wednesday, the workers’ group vented their opinion on Twitter. The tweet says, “We would much rather Microsoft used today to stand up for Transgender people everywhere on Transgender Day of Visibility, instead of building weapons of war.”
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