To say that Microsoft has a lot going on right now is an understatement. They’re working hard to try and keep the Xbox One going (and are rumored to be bringing Xbox Live and Game Pass to other systems like the Nintendo Switch…) and are working on their next console, Scarlett. But, they’re also working on a VR sequel to their Hololens, one that is apparently going to be used by the US military to help better their soldiers, and that has caused some backlash.
Recently, a bunch of workers within Microsoft (50 and counting) took offense to the $479 million dollar deal between the company and the US Army because they felt it was wrong for the company to be using their technology to help make better fighters rather than using it to either make games or make lives easier for other people. They even wrote an open letter detailing how wrong this was in their eyes.
Now, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has come forward and defended the deal that he and the company made.
“We made a principled decision that we’re not going to withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy,” he told CNN Business at Mobile World Congress.“We were very transparent about that decision and we’ll continue to have that dialogue [with employees],”
“It’s not about taking arbitrary action by a single company, it’s not about 50 people or 100 people or even 100,000 people in a company,” he said.“It’s really about being a responsible corporate citizen in a democracy.”
We’ll just have to see how it goes.
