Google Amazon workers protest military cloud contracts TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Google Amazon workers protest military cloud contracts By Will McCurdy published 12 September 2022 Employees objecting on ethical grounds (Image credit: Shutterstock / Blackboard) Audio player loading… Amazon and Google workers have started protesting against their employer's involvement with Project Nimbus, a joint cloud computing project with the Israeli government. The $1.2 billion contract, which Oracle and Microsoft bid for but lost out on, has seen pointed opposition since it was first announced in early 2022. Critics have alleged that the Israeli military could potentially weaponize its cloud computing infrastructure to surveil or oppress Palestinians, for example leveraging it to empower facial recognition systems. Cloud protests The protests were spread across the US, with demonstrations in San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Durham, North Carolina. A Google spokesperson, Atle Erlingsson, has maintained that protestors are "misrepresenting the contract." "As we have stated many times, the contract is for workloads running on our commercial platform by Israeli government ministries such as finance, healthcare, transportation, and education," he said in a statement. "Our work is not directed at highly sensitive or classified military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services." However, Google Cloud software engineer Josh Marxen detailed how some of the products could be utilized for agressive ends. "We know that the AI, machine learning and big data management technologies are the ones that are going to be the most instrumental if they were to be integrated into the surveillance systems," he said.READ MORE:> Microsoft and AWS awarded Ukrainian peace prize for cloud efforts (opens in new tab) > AWS sales head slams Microsoft cloud practices (opens in new tab) > Our guide to the best cloud storage (opens in new tab) Amazon has not yet issued a comment on the matter, but this is not the first time the company's employees have hit out against their bosses. Over 700 Amazon workers at a depot in Tilbury in Essex, UK went on strike in opposition to an "insulting" pay rise offer in August 2022. Controversy seems to have accompanied massive cloud contracts in recent years, often on financial rather than moral grounds. Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently secured a $10 billion contract from the US National Security Agency (NSA), besting rival Microsoft. The contract, codenamed "Wild and Stormy," has been the subject of many heated back and forth disputes between regulators and tech giants concerning who gets to handle the highly lucrative Pentagon cloud business.Looking to reduce your exposure to the public cloud? Checkout our guide to the best bare metal servers Via Forbes (opens in new tab) Will McCurdyWill McCurdy has been writing about technology for over five years. He has a wide range of specialities including cybersecurity, fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, cloud computing, payments, artificial intelligence, retail technology, and venture capital investment. He has previously written for AltFi, FStech, Retail Systems, and National Technology News and is an experienced podcast and webinar host, as well as an avid long-form feature writer. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1My days as a helpful meat shield are over, thanks to the Killer Klown horror game2One of the world's most popular programming languages is coming to Linux3It looks like Fallout's spiritual successor is getting a PS5 remaster4I tried the weirdest-looking Bluetooth speaker in the world, and I utterly adore it5You may not have to sell a body part to afford the Nvidia RTX 4090 after all1We finally know what 'Wi-Fi' stands for - and it's not what you think2Best laptops for designers and coders 3Miofive 4K Dash Cam review4Logitech's latest webcam and headset want to relieve your work day frustrations5Best offers on Laptops for Education – this festive season Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)