Pentagon halts Microsoft program that used Chinese nationals on defense work
Aug 29, 2025, 4:34 PM | Updated: 4:42 pm
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House August 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)
(Photo: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)
The Pentagon issued a “letter of concern” to Microsoft after the company allowed Chinese nationals to do work for the U.S. Department of Defense.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this stems from a decade-old Microsoft program, known as “digital escorts.”
“For nearly a decade, Microsoft has used Chinese coders, remotely supervised by U.S. contractors, to support sensitive DoD cloud systems,” he said.
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Hegseth said the program is no longer being used at the Pentagon.
“It blows my mind that I’m even saying these things [and] that we ever allowed it to happen,” Hegseth stated.
He added that the Pentagon is working to course correct.
Microsoft also announced last month that it had stopped using China-based engineers for defense contracts.
Earlier this week, Microsoft fired four employees after protesters breached the company president’s executive office in Redmond.
At least two of the fired employees were arrested at Microsoft headquarters following the protest. In total, the Redmond Police Department arrested seven people.
