Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft CEO Defends Pentagon Contract Following Employee Outcry (theverge.com)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is defending the company's $479 million contract with the Pentagon to supply augmented reality headsets to the U.S. military. "We made a principled decision that we're not going to withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy," he told CNN Business at Mobile World Congress. "We were very transparent about that decision and we'll continue to have that dialogue [with employees]," he added during the exclusive interview. From the report: Microsoft was awarded the contract to supply "Integrated Visual Augmentation System" prototypes to the U.S. military in November. The company could eventually deliver over 100,000 headsets under the contract. Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality technology allows users to see the world around them, but with virtual graphics overlaid. The Israeli military, which has taken delivery of some HoloLens headsets, says the technology can be used to help commanders visualize the battlefield and field medics to consult doctors. According to procurement documents, the U.S. military is seeking a single platform that provides its forces with "increased lethality, mobility and situational awareness" in combat. Microsoft employees have recently circulated a letter addressed to Nadella and Brad Smith, the company's president and chief legal officer, arguing that the company should not supply its HoloLens technology to the U.S. military. "It's not about taking arbitrary action by a single company, it's not about 50 people or 100 people or even 100,000 people in a company," he said. "It's really about being a responsible corporate citizen in a democracy."
How about a source that doesn't abuse YouTube's copyright system to cover their incompetence? Here's one: https://www.engadget.com/2019/...
For context: https://hardware.slashdot.org/...
(I guess I don't know that Engadget hasn't ever misbehaved, but Vox and The Verge are pretty regularly obnoxious.)
This seems to be "Microsoft invents HoloLens" and then miliitary sees the (OBVIOUS) military applications and puts in an order for 100,000.
This does not seem to be Microsoft being pro-military. Rather, the military buying 100,000 SKU off the shelf, not unlike if they ordered 100,000 Office 365 licenses.
But I could be wrong. Still. How many food suppliers supply the US Military? Or "Skillcraft", the company that makes US Military pens?
First, all that money comes from taxpayers ("you kiddies"). Second, what you say just means spending on research enables discoveries and new engineering. There's no reason why that spending has to be military. It may even be the case that, had the money been spent on non-military applications, then the taxpayers would have received an even better bang-for-buck.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
The US has the largest prison population in the world per capita. If you define a "free country" as a "country where you deprive as few people as possible of their freedoms", then the prison population alone disproves your point.