Microsoft Will Keep Pursuing Military Deals Amid Employee Concerns
Tech is creating new ethical issues but Microsoft wants U.S. soldiers to know ‘we have their back.’
Microsoft Corp. will continue to sell software to the U.S. military despite concern from some of its employees about the ethical implications of providing cloud and artificial intelligence tools that could potentially fuel violent global conflict.
“We readily decided this summer to pursue these projects, given our longstanding support for the Defense Department,” wrote Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith, in a blog post Friday that he said conveyed a discussion he had with Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and employees at a meeting the previous day. “All of us who live in this country depend on its strong defense. The people who serve in our military work for an institution with a vital role and critical history. Of course, no institution is perfect or has an unblemished track record, and this has been true of the U.S. military.”