Google Says It Can Compete for Pentagon Contracts Without Violating Principles

The JEDI cloud computing contract was estimated to be worth $10 billion over 10 years, and was awarded to Microsoft in 2019. But facing legal challenges from Amazon, the Pentagon scrapped the contract in July and announced a new plan to purchase cloud computing technology. The new version of the contract, known as the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, will split the work between multiple companies.

The segmented nature of the contract allows Google to work on parts of the Pentagon cloud without violating its ban on weapons, Google executives told employees in the videoconference meeting on Thursday, a recording of which was obtained by The Times.

The exact scope of the work is still unclear because the government has not submitted a formal request for proposal. While it has not been invited to bid, Google has said it is interested.

In a blog post published the same day as the meeting, Thomas Kurian, who oversees the company’s cloud unit, wrote: “If we are invited to be part of the J.W.C.C. contract, we will absolutely bid.”

At the meeting, Mr. Kurian said there are many areas where Google’s capabilities and expertise can be applied “with no conflict to Google’s A.I. principles.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/technology/google-ai-pentagon.html