--- title: "Employees Demand Microsoft Cancel U.S. Army HoloLens Contract" description: "Employees at Microsoft signed a letter calling for the company to cancel a military contract that would supply U.S. Army soldiers with HoloLens AR headsets. " date: "2019-02-23" modified: "2019-02-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/microsoft-letter-us-army-hololens" categories: - "Future Society" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "augmented reality" - "hololens" - "microsoft" - "us army" --- # Employees Demand Microsoft Cancel U.S. Army HoloLens Contract ![Employees at Microsoft signed a letter calling for the company to cancel a military contract that would supply U.S. Army soldiers with HoloLens AR headsets. ]() *\Image: Microsoft/Victor Tangermann\* ## Augmented Warfare More than fifty employees at Microsoft [signed a letter]() this week calling for the company to cancel a military contract that would supply U.S. Army soldiers with HoloLens augmented reality headsets. [The letter]() titled "HoloLens for Good, Not War" states that the headset "will be deployed on the battlefield, and works by turning warfare into a simulated 'video game,' further distancing soldiers from the grim stakes of war and the reality of bloodshed." In November, Microsoft signed a [$479 million contract]() with the Army with plans to supply them with more than 100,000 specialized HoloLens headsets as part of a broader plan to develop an "Integrated Visual Augmentation System" (IVAS). Their demands are for Microsoft to cancel the IVAS contract, "cease developing any and all weapons technologies," and appoint an "external ethics review board." ## "HoloLens for Good, Not War" The military is planning to use Microsoft’s augmented reality goggles to “increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy,” according to a government description of the program as [quoted by Bloomberg]() in November. It's not the first time workers of a major tech corporation have demanded their employers to cut ties with the military. Last year, thousands of Google employees circulated a letter demanding CEO Sundar Pichai to pull out of a Pentagon project [called Project Maven](), a surveillance drone initiative for the U.S. military. This week's letter is testament to the tech sector taking a stronger stance on their employers doing business with the military. "As employees and shareholders we do not want to become war profiteers," reads the letter. **READ MORE:** [Microsoft workers protest use of HoloLens headsets for war]() \[*Associated Press*\] ***More on the Microsoft contract: [U.S. Soldiers to Wear Microsoft AR Goggles During Combat Missions]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()