Oracle revives protest of $10B JEDI war cloud contract: Report
Microsoft was declared the winner of the massive job in late 2019
Was there any 'foul play' in Pentagon cloud deal?
Independent Women's Forum senior policy analyst Patrice Lee Onwuka discusses why Amazon's decision to blame President Trump for the Pentagon cloud deal was not the appropriate call.
Oracle is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look at its challenge of the massive Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) war cloud contract at the Pentagon, which was awarded to Microsoft amid much controversy in 2019.
Oracle lost a challenge against the bidding process for the lucrative defense contract at the end of 2018, but it is now hoping the Supreme Court will take another look at the solicitation process, which it claims was riddled with conflicts of interest and unduly restricted competition.
According to Law360.com, the company filed a petition on Jan. 29.
MICROSOFT UPHELD OVER AMAZON AS JEDI ‘WAR CLOUD’ CONTRACT WINNER
The renewed challenge attempt was also reported by Bloomberg Law on Tuesday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORCL | ORACLE CORP. | 114.86 | -0.53 | -0.46% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 399.04 | -10.02 | -2.45% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 173.67 | -2.92 | -1.65% |
Oracle did not return FOX Business’ request for comment.
A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment.
JEDI was valued at around $10 billion and became the subject of a tangled web of litigation among bidders, which also included Amazon, IBM and Google.
Google, however, pulled its bid for the job amid concerns the project does not align with the company’s artificial intelligence principles.
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Amazon filed a lawsuit in November 2019 challenging the Pentagon’s decision to award the massive contract to Microsoft a month earlier, citing "unmistakable bias" in the evaluation process. In September 2020, the Department of Defense upheld its decision to go with Microsoft.
Amazon had been considered the frontrunner due to its other standing cloud deals, including a $600 million cloud contract with the CIA. That indicates the company already had the approval to handle sensitive government data. The company, however, got drawn up in public controversy.
The Department of Defense reviewed the pending cloud contract following complaints there had been conflicts of interest involving Amazon and Department of Defense employees throughout the procurement process.
Trump also made comments that the contract may have been biased in favor of Amazon, which became part of Amazon’s argument.
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The Washington Post reported last week that Department of Defense officials were questioning whether proceeding with the job as planned was worth it considering the ongoing legal battles.