Microsoft has filed a protest against a contract given to Amazon by the United States Department of Defense. The contract, which involves updating the storage of secret data at the National Security Agency (NSA), would be worth a total of 10 billion dollars to the internet retailer (about 8.5 billion euros).

After Amazon made a similar action in protesting the awarding of another big cloud computing project at the Department of Defense, which Amazon opposed, Microsoft filed a protest of its own. That lucrative contract had previously been awarded to Microsoft by the previous administration, but following an outcry from Amazon, the decision was made to re-tender the contract.

Political games, according to Amazon, were a driving force behind the Trump administration's choice to cooperate with Microsoft on artificial intelligence. In the past, it has been widely reported that former US President Donald Trump is not a fan of then-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Trump had previously openly insulted Amazon's proposal for the contract, leading to the award of the contract being postponed. Trump has also been critical of Amazon on a frequent basis.

Microsoft has filed a formal objection with the National Security Agency, according to a representative for the agency. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.