Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has defended his company’s decision to supply the armed forces with its HoloLens headsets for use in military applications. The CEO said this forms part of their duty to help the institutions working in a democratic environment to function towards protecting the freedom that everyone is enjoying.
As part of the deal with the US Defense Department, the Microsoft supplied HoloLens would be used to overlay computer-generated images onto the real word environment to help the military in the critical decision-making process. This forms part of the $480 million contracts the software giant recently signed up with the Defense Department to supply over 100,000 of the AR headsets to the army.
Microsoft employees, however, have a differing opinion on this and have largely opposed the move, claiming they didn’t design the AR headset for use in warfighting. The employees said their work should not be used as a weapon for waging war and for oppression. The employees also alleged it is the firm time that Microsoft has agreed to supply the military with hardware though they had supported them with software stuff on several occasions prior to this.
Nadella though has remained defiant so far and has refused to budge from his position saying supplying the latest technology stuff to the military forms part of his moral obligation to support democracy and freedom. The Chief Executive however also said he is open to having a discussion with the employees on this besides stating it was a transparent decision-making process that they have been through on this.
The Defense Department is yet to comment on the latest controversy but had stated in its procurement documents that the HoloLens would be integrated with night vision, communication along with other strategic capabilities to help the army in its role of warfighting.
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Microsoft meanwhile has also launched the second gen $3500 Hololens 2 Sunday at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
