Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 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
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
×