Microsoft has announced that it will no longer allow engineers in China to provide technical support for American defense clients, including the Department of Defense, which utilizes its Azure cloud platform. This was reported by Tom's Hardware.

This decision follows an investigation by ProPublica, which uncovered the involvement of Chinese specialists in supporting Pentagon cloud services, potentially posing risks to U.S. cybersecurity.

According to Microsoft representative Frank Shaw, the company has revised its approach to technical support for U.S. government clients to ensure that no engineering teams from China will have access to projects related to the Department of Defense or other government agencies. Previously, Chinese engineers worked under the remote supervision of so-called "digital overseers" from the U.S., who often had lower technical qualifications.

Azure is one of Microsoft’s key revenue sources, accounting for over a quarter of the company’s total profit. In 2019, Microsoft won a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon, but it was canceled in 2021. In 2022, the company secured new cloud contracts alongside Amazon, Google, and Oracle, totaling up to $9 billion.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Guesset described the situation as "unacceptable" and promised to review other systems for similar risks. Microsoft, for its part, assured that it would continue to work with the U.S. government, adapting its security protocols to meet emerging threats.