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Judge Orders Temporary Halt of $10B Microsoft-Pentagon Contract

After Amazon sued the government and claimed Trump’s bias against the company hurt its chances to get the coveted contract.

A federal judge ordered the temporary halt of Microsoft's $10 billion military cloud contract on Thursday after Amazon sued the U.S. government late last year for awarding Microsoft the coveted contract. According to the Associated Press, Amazon claims that President Trump's bias against Amazon hurt the company's chances to win the contract for the Defense Department's Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project—which would store and process data to improve battlefield communications and integrate artificial intelligence into military planning and fighting. In addition to critiquing Amazon, Trump has also taken aim at The Washington Post—which are both owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos. Microsoft and Amazon were both seen as finalists for the contract, but Amazon was considered a front-runner to get it.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver said that the department was disappointed about the hold-up on the project, and claimed it would deprive troops of a “set of capabilities they urgently need.” He also reiterated that the Pentagon was sure of their choice in Microsoft. Microsoft said they were disappointed in the judge's decision as well, but believed the contract would progress forward. Amazon has not spoken publicly on the matter. This comes after Bezos' company asked to question the president as part of its case, and Microsoft claimed Amazon was “grasping at straws” with the move.