Pentagon cancels JEDI contract with Microsoft over dispute with Amazon

The Pentagon officially cancels its $ 10 billion JEDI contract with Microsoft which was challenged by Amazon, citing the fact that it “no longer meets its needs.”

The Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday that the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract is canceled almost two years after it was awarded to Microsoft, The Washington Post reports. Amazon contested the contract, arguing that the process that led to its award to Microsoft was “tainted with politics”, The Associated Press written. The contract “would have allowed Microsoft to build a cloud storage system for sensitive military data and technologies”, CNN Reports.

Amazon alleged that former President Donald Trump used “inappropriate pressure” to hijack Amazon’s contract in an attempt to harm “his perceived political enemy,” then CEO Jeff Bezos. Earlier this year, a judge rejected an attempt to dismiss Amazon’s claims. While this legal dispute took place, “the Defense Department was unable to move forward with the contract it awarded to Microsoft”, the To post Remarks.

Finally, the Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that “due to changing requirements, increased mastery of the cloud and industry advances, the JEDI Cloud contract no longer meets its needs”. The Pentagon will now solicit bids from Microsoft and Amazon for a new contract, according to CNN.

This decision came as a “massive financial blow to Microsoft”, the To post wrote, although the company acknowledged that the Defense Department “faced a difficult choice: whether to pursue what could be a years-long legal battle or find another way forward.”