Tech

Amazon wants to block Microsoft from working on the $10 billion JEDI contract at all until its own challenge of the contract has been resolved

Jeff Bezos
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
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Amazon is taking legal action to stop Microsoft from starting work on a $10 billion Pentagon contract Amazon claims it was unfairly blocked from winning.

Microsoft was awarded the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract in October last year, which involves moving the Department of Defense's data over onto the cloud.

Previously Amazon had been tipped as the frontrunner to win the contract, and the company maintains that it lost out due to interference from President Trump, who has a longstanding animosity towards Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos whom he gleefully dubbed "Jeff Bozo" when news of Bezos' divorce broke last year.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday attributed the company's win to its so-called "hybrid cloud," a.k.a. mixing pure cloud computing with on-site computing.

Amazon filed its first legal complaint disputing the decision in November, claiming it had been the victim of "clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias."

This new legal challenge, filed in a federal court on Monday, is designed to block Microsoft from performing any substantial work on JEDI until Amazon's first lawsuit is resolved.

Microsoft will move to dismiss the case, according to Bloomberg.

The judge has been asked by the companies to rule on Amazon's newest filing by February 11. Neither Amazon nor Microsoft were immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.

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Isobel (she/her) was a senior tech reporter at Business Insider. She was particularly interested in Big Tech, privacy, and worker's rights. You can read some of her previous work here: The quest to find $181 million in bitcoin buried in a dump Exclusive: Amazon targeted military spouses in a pandemic recruitment drive. 2 of them say they ended up being paid 33% less than non-military coworkers. Exclusive: Amazon plans a pay cut of up to 23% for hourly workers who guide trucks in and out of its UK delivery stations Exclusive: Tesla's solar division asks employees to scour social media for complaints about both the company and Elon Musk, trying to get customers to delete their posts, former employees say A couple says their Tesla Solar panels caused relentless leaks that led to mold 10 times the healthy limit, $115,000 in damages, and a long-running legal battle Ghosted by Tesla: Customers say Tesla's ultrasleek, expensive Solar Roofs and panels come with nightmare customer service, often leaving them with unanswered calls and emails for months on end Amazon workers leading a historic push for unionization in Alabama describe midnight 'education' meetings, an unexpected mailbox, and streams of anti-union flyers as they go up against one of the world's most powerful companies 'It's a slap in the face': Amazon is handing out 'Thank you' t-shirts to warehouse workers as it cuts their hazard pay Investigation: Amazon warehouse employees speak out about the 'brutal' reality of working during the holidays, when 60-hour weeks are mandatory and ambulance calls are common The science behind Elon Musk's brain-chip company Neuralink Investigation: Instagram's new TV service recommended videos of potential child abuse