US Pentagon mulls ending JEDI cloud project amid Amazon court battle

U.S. Pentagon officials are mulling ending its JEDI cloud-computing project, caught up in litigation from Amazon.com Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Amazon, which was seen as a front-runner to win the $10 billion JEDI project that went to Microsoft Corp in 2019, has argued the contract process reflected undue influence from former President Donald Trump.

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge last month refused to dismiss Amazon’s claims alleging the Trump administration interfered in the Pentagon’s award.

Last year, the U.S. Defense Department completed a comprehensive re-evaluation of its contract proposals and determined that Microsoft’s submission still represented the best value for the government.

Microsoft said in an emailed statement on Monday it was ready to deliver on JEDI, but that the litigation battle was harmful.

“We agree with the US Departments of Defense and Justice that prolonged litigation is harmful and has delayed getting this technology to our military service members who need it,” Microsoft said.

Amazon’s cloud unit reiterated its previous stance, claiming the JEDI contract award to Microsoft was affected by “improper influence” from former President Trump. WSJ | Reuters