The US Department of Defense is upholding its decision to award its cloud mega-contract (remote computing) to Microsoft and not to Amazon, despite accusations of favoritism on the part of President Donald Trump and the intervention of the courts.
The Pentagon “has completed its complete reassessment of bids for the JEDI contract [Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure] and determined that Microsoft’s continues to be the best option for the government, ”a statement released Friday said.
As soon as the call for tenders was concluded this fall, Amazon, initially considered a favorite, had strongly questioned the choice of the ministry.
The online commerce and technology giant notably accuses Donald Trump of having piloted the choice of the Pentagon because he hates Jeff Bezos, the founder and boss of the group.
In February, a U.S. judge accepted Amazon’s request to order the suspension of the $ 10 billion contract.
In March, the government asked the court to return the matter to the ministry “for 120 days to reconsider certain aspects of the contested decision.”
“The implementation of the contract is not going to start immediately because of the temporary injunction of the federal court of February 13, but the Ministry of Defense is in a hurry to bring these technological capabilities to our men and women in uniform,” the Pentagon added on Friday.
This 10-year mega-contract aims to modernize all the computer systems of the American armed forces in a system managed by artificial intelligence.
“We are grateful that the ministry has confirmed, after a careful reassessment, that we are offering the right technology at the best price,” responded a Microsoft spokesperson.
Amazon did not react to an AFP solicitation immediately.
“President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his capacity as head of the military to interfere with government functions, including the awarding of federal contracts, for personal gain,” a spokesperson for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division.
He was referring in particular to comments reported by James Mattis. The former US Secretary of State for Defense had indicated that Donald Trump had told him to “send Amazon to graze” during a discussion on this contract.
Jeff Bezos is the frequent target of harsh attacks by the Republican president, especially because of his investment in the Washington post, one of the most critical newspapers of Mr. Trump and his government.