Microsoft offers employees Trusted Technology Review form

Microsoft It is giving employees a way to voice concerns about the use of its technology after controversy emerged over the company’s work in the Middle East.

An internal portal for Microsoft’s more than 200,000 employees now includes the option to request a “Trusted Technology Review,” wrote the company’s president, Brad Smith. securities filing on Wednesday. He said it was designed to raise concerns about the way Microsoft develops and uses technology.

“Our standard anti-retaliation policy applies and you may raise your concerns anonymously,” Smith wrote.

The move comes weeks after Microsoft stopped providing some services to the Israeli defense agency. In August, The Guardian reported that Israel Defense Forces Unit 8200 had set up a system in Microsoft’s Azure cloud to monitor Palestinian phone calls as part of the country’s occupation of Gaza, prompting Microsoft to investigate the newspaper’s claims.

Employees protested the company’s work with Israel, leading to layoffs and resignations.

Microsoft’s business took a turn for the worse last week, with its stock hitting a record high as OpenAI and other companies deepened their reliance on Azure to run artificial intelligence models. But there is stress within the company due to layoffs, return-to-office orders, and disputes over Microsoft’s contracts.

A media report in July also described the US Department of Defense’s dependence on Microsoft engineers in China.

Microsoft, which celebrated its 50th birthday in April, now sees opportunities to strengthen its management.

“We are working to strengthen our existing pre-contract review process to evaluate commitments that require additional human rights due diligence,” Smith wrote.

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