US defense chief rejects Amazon’s accusations of bias in cloud contract

US defense chief rejects Amazon’s accusations of bias in cloud contract

Business U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday rejected any suggestion of bias in a Pentagon..

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U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday rejected any suggestion of bias in a Pentagon decision to award Microsoft Corp an up to US$10 billion cloud computing contract, after Amazon.com Inc announced plans to challenge it.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo shake hands for the media prior to the 51st Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, November 15, 2019. Lee Jin-man/Pool via REUTERS

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SEOUL: U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday rejected any suggestion of bias in a Pentagon decision to award Microsoft Corp an up to US$10 billion cloud computing contract, after Amazon.com Inc announced plans to challenge it.

"I am confident it was conducted freely and fairly, without any type of outside influence," Esper told a news conference in Seoul, even as he noted that he had recused himself from the cloud competition.

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Amazon says that politics got in the way of a fair contracting process. President Donald Trump has long criticized Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos.

In a company-wide meeting on Thursday, Amazon Web Services' chief executive Andy Jassy said it would be challenging for a U.S. agency to award a contract objectively when the president is disparaging one of the contestants, according to an Amazon spokesman.

Amazon was considered a favorite for the contract, part of a broader digital modernization process of the Pentagon, before Microsoft emerged as the surprise winner.

In October, Esper removed himself from reviewing the deal due to his son's employment with one of the original contract applicants, IBM Corp. IBM had previously bid for the contract but had already been eliminated from the competition.

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Esper said he was unaware of Amazon's specific accusations. His remarks followed a question about whether Trump asked the Pentagon to "bypass Amazon" for the contract.

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