Microsoft workers demand it drop $480 million US Army contract

SAN FRANCISCO : Some Microsoft Corp employees on Friday demanded that the company cancel a $480 million hardware contract to supply the US Army, with 94 workers signing a petition calling on the company to stop developing “any and all weapons technologies.”
The organizing effort, described to Reuters by three Microsoft workers, offers the latest example in the last year of tech employees protesting cooperation with governments on emerging technologies.
Microsoft won a contract in November to supply the Army with at least 2,500 prototypes of augmented reality headsets, which digitally display contextual information in front of a user’s eyes. The government has said the devices would be used on the battlefield and in training to improve soldiers “lethality, mobility and situational awareness.”