Pentagon Scraps $10 Billion Contract With Microsoft, Bitterly Contested By Amazon

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/06/ [login to see] /pentagon-scraps-10-billion-contract-with-microsoft-bitterly-contested-by-amazon
The Defense Department is scrapping its $10 billion cloud-computing contract with Microsoft, ending the award process that's been mired in a legal battle with Amazon.

The Pentagon's announcement on Tuesday ends what has been a complicated and highly politicized saga of one of the most lucrative military tech contracts in U.S. history.

Amazon has been litigating the contract — known as JEDI — since 2019 when the company was stunned by its loss of the lucrative 10-year award to Microsoft. Amazon's legal strategy has included a call for testimony from former President Donald Trump, arguing his disdain for company founder Jeff Bezos swayed the bidding process.

The Defense Department on Tuesday said the JEDI contract — short for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure — no longer met its needs "due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances."