Microsoft is pressing ahead with a $480 million contract to build augmented reality technology for the Army despite strong backlash inside the company.
A group of Microsoft employees on Friday called for the company to back out of a deal to provide tech for the Pentagon’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System program.
In an open letter to chief executive Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith, employees said the effort amounts to “weapons development” and they “refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression.”
The company, however, has no intention of distancing itself from the project, a Microsoft spokesperson told Nextgov on Monday. The decision comes amid growing tension between tech companies and the national security sector.
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