Microsoft is War Profiteering
At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will step on stage to unveil the new augmented reality headset HoloLens2. We know AR to immerse the customer in virtual reality is the new revolution on the tech-sky, but most of us probably have never thought about the consequences it might have when it is being used in war-time.
Two sides to every Coin
Jumping into the world of virtual realities, may it be playing games, painting pictures, and visiting places far away without ever having to step outside the comfort of our own homes, AR opens up new possibilities of interaction with virtual worlds. But what happens if this technology is being used to fight wars and kill people, instead of bringing joy and channeling creativity?
The U.S. Military Contract
Before the HoloLens2 will see the light of the world, Microsoft workers are outraged over a $479 million contract with the U.S. military inked last November to use its capability that “provides increased lethality, mobility, and situational awareness necessary to achieve overmatch against our current and future adversaries.” In a letter to Nadella and Microsoft President Brad Smith the Microsoft workers protested by saying they “refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression” and demanding Microsoft to cancel the contract supporting the development of weapons technologies. With more than 50 employees signatures and counting, this outrage doesn’t seem to be a single case.
A similar outcry against Google ended a contract with the Department of Defense to build artificial intelligence for drone technology. So the timing was just right, as the MWC 2019 will as always start in May every year. The narrative of a new product on the horizon of a Big Tech company in correspondence with war-technology can undermine great new technology, and in this case, it just seems right.
Last year in June Microsoft had confronted a similar case in where more than 500 employees had signed a petition to Microsoft from working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the Trump administration’s family separation policy at the U.S. Border. Albeit all protests the contract had never been canceled with the response by Microsoft stating that the company is not aware that the services help Trump’s policies to separate families at the border.
