Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed its previous tading session at $111.59 on a volume of 23.8 million shares. Teh stock has been making new highs, here is the latest update from the company.
The workers of Microsoft demands scrapping the defense deal worth $480 million. The company signed a deal with the US defense to develop and supply battle ready 100,000 HoloLens Headsets. They will be part of the IVAS (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) for the US Army. The IVAS program gives the soldiers enhanced combat skills in the close range in the urban environment.
HoloLens Headsets enhances the lethality of soldiers
The HoloLens equipped IVAS improves the lethality of soldiers by using advanced sensors and cognitive training. The soldiers can quickly detect, take an immediate decision and act using IVAS. The tender document of the US Army says enhanced capability is a requisite to enhance the capabilities of soldiers to detect quickly and engage.
Microsoft workers post an open letter on Twitter
Microsoft workers posted an open letter on the social network – Twitter mentioning ‘Microsoft workers 4 good’. They sent an open letter to Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, and Brad Smith, Chief Legal Counsel, scouting for immediate cancellation of the defense contract. The workers’ group is against the use of Microsoft technology and tools to enhance the lethality of armed forces. They want a say in the usage of developed tools and technology. They have gathered the signatures of 150 employees to support the demand to scrap the deal and said Microsoft is accountable to maintain the stated values. According to the contents of the letter on Twitter, the workers said earlier Microsoft signed deals with defense but not for building weapons capability.
The HaloLens application built in the IVAS system augments the capability of soldiers to target, engage and kill immediately. It echoes the similar sentiments of employees of Google in canceling the deal worth $10 billion that use AI to differentiate between objects and humans in the video surveillance footage captured by drones. Google succumbed to the pressure of 4,000 employees and moved out of the Maven program of Pentagon.
However, Smith of Microsoft commenting on the protest said the protesting employees could work in another division. The employees say Smith ignored their voice and not informed how the company would use their work. CEO said the company is not going back on the principled decision. The company would enhance the situational awareness and combat capability of the soldiers using a single platform. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said if the large tech companies deny work for improving the defense capabilities, the nation could face trouble.