Microsoft Challenges US Government Contract Award to Amazon

Tech giant Microsoft will challenge a US government decision to award a billion-dollar cloud computing project to rival Amazon.

The contract involves modernizing the storage of classified data at the National Security Agency (NSA).

Microsoft’s protest follows a similar move by Amazon in awarding another major cloud computing project at the Department of Defense, which Amazon opposed.

That lucrative contract was awarded to Microsoft by the previous government, but after protest from Amazon, it was decided to tender the contract again.

An NSA spokesperson confirmed that he had received the protest from Microsoft. Amazon declined to comment.