Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 12, 2026

Microsoft protests government's decision to award Amazon cloud contract

Microsoft protests government's decision to award Amazon cloud contract

GAO expected to issue decision on Microsoft's claim on or by Oct. 29

Microsoft Corporation has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) against a Department of Defense contract awarded to Amazon.com Inc.


The tech giant's protest was filed on July 21 – two weeks after the Pentagon canceled the disputed JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) Microsoft cloud-computing contract, saying that the department determined the contract no longer met its needs due to "evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy and industry advances."

In its complaint, Microsoft alleges that the National Security Agency (NSA) did not conduct a proper evaluation before awarding the contract to Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to Washington Technology.

The outlet, which first reported the filing, noted that the lucrative contract – codenamed "WildandStormy" – carries a value of close to $10 billion dollars.


The JEDI Cloud contract also could eventually have been worth $10 billion and AWS had initially challenged the original contract awarded to Microsoft, arguing that decision was tainted by politics in 2019.

JEDI was meant to store and process vast amounts of classified data, allowing the U.S. military to improve communications with its soldiers and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up war planning and fighting capabilities.

In July, the Pentagon’s chief information officer, John Sherman, told reporters the "landscape had evolved" with new possibilities for large-scale cloud computing services – the reason for starting over.

At that point, however, Sherman said that both AWS and Microsoft would "likely" be awarded parts of the business and that JEDI would be replaced by a new program called Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability.

Both AWS and Microsoft released statements in support of the Pentagon's decision.

The GAO is expected to issue a decision on the protest on Oct. 29.

"The Agency will respond to the protest in accordance with appropriate federal regulations," an NSA spokesperson told Nextgov.

A Microsoft spokesperson told FOX Business on Wednesday that the company would exercise its legal rights "carefully and responsibly."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
Microsoft Lays Off 4,800 Employees and Xbox Suffers the Hardest Blow
Morocco and France Advance as 2026 FIFA World Cup Enters Quarterfinals.
Historic 2026 Tour de France Opens in Barcelona With Revamped Team Time Trial.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions Approach $4 Trillion Defying Geopolitical Tumult.
Negotiators Advance 20-Point Framework for Gaza Ceasefire and Demilitarization.
OECD Warns Middle East Conflict Will Depress Global Economic Growth.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg.
World Meteorological Organization Issues Urgent Alert Over Rapidly Intensifying El Niño.
United States Commemorates 250th Anniversary With Diplomatic Summits and Global Flotilla.
Iran Begins Days-Long Funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff.
Technology giant reports surging carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Artificial intelligence adoption accelerates workforce reductions across the technology and financial sectors.
Global technology and financial conglomerates collaborate to launch a new stablecoin standard.
United States regulators lift export restrictions on a major frontier artificial intelligence model.
Luxury bags take over the World Cup: style, status symbol, or just showing off?
×