Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the military would cease using a Microsoft program that relied on Chinese engineers. This obviously presented a major security issue, which Hegseth noted.
“If you’re thinking ‘America first’ and common sense, this doesn’t pass either of those tests,” Hegseth said of the program. “The use of Chinese nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments? It’s over.”
He also declared that the DOD had delivered a formal letter to Microsoft, chiding the tech giant for breaching the trust of its government and for allowing such a problem to arise. The Pentagon promises to do more audits of its Microsoft-provided programs and other tech initiatives for China connections.
Microsoft is one of the worst offenders in this CCP connection. Its co-founder, Bill Gates, always finds an opportunity to praise China. In March, Gates gushed over the communist state’s tech advances and warned that any American attempts to counter Chinese growth would stifle global innovation. The tech giant has a large presence in the country, generating fears that this would allow the CCP access to our national security operations.
The “digital escorts” program that the DOD just revoked, confirmed these fears. Microsoft’s Chinese engineers handle some of the most sensitive material the Pentagon processes.
As ProPublica reported in July:
Microsoft uses the escort system to handle the government’s most sensitive information that falls below “classified.” According to the government, this “high impact level” category includes “data that involves the protection of life and financial ruin.” The “loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability” of this information “could be expected to have a severe or catastrophic adverse effect” on operations, assets, and individuals, the government has said. In the Defense Department, the data is categorized as “Impact Level” 4 and 5 and includes materials that directly support military operations.
Former CIA senior executive Harry Coker told the outlet, “If I were an operative, I would look at that as an avenue for extremely valuable access. We need to be very concerned about that.”
The ChiComs may even inspire some of Microsoft’s domestic operations. The tech giant played a critical role in setting up the censorship industrial complex that has been weaponized against conservatives in the U.S. and elsewhere. The CCP would be proud of such an endeavor.
Microsoft cultivates close ties with China because its dominance of the market makes its executives think it’s too big to punish. It’s only the operator who can serve the government’s national security needs in certain areas. Any concerns about communist subversion are ignored when it’s the only option available.
These practices likely run afoul of antitrust law, making Microsoft a prime target for a Federal Trade Commission investigation. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has made it a priority to crack down on Big Tech malfeasance in the market. Microsoft’s actions don’t just violate free market principles—they also put our national security at risk.
The FTC announced a probe into Microsoft’s bundling practices last December. The tech company allegedly uses this strategy to make itself seem the best option for government contracting while unfairly cutting out the competition. This lack of serious competition cements Microsoft’s cavalier attitude towards China and its reluctance to change that behavior. If no other company can challenge Microsoft’s stranglehold, there’s little motivation to correct the tech giant’s errors.
The administration wants to mandate a simple standard for companies it does business with: put America first. Microsoft and other tech giants fail this basic criterion. Previous administrations allowed them to skate by due to their monopolies. It’s time to change that for the sake of the national interest. We can’t allow China to further undermine our defense capabilities because we’re afraid of upsetting Bill Gates.