And indeed, Friday marked a big announcement from Microsoft. Moving forward the company will no longer hire Chinese engineers for work on projects related to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This decision comes on the heels of increasing alarm over how we supervise and oversee foreign engineers who promote national security projects.
Until recently, Microsoft ran an alternative system that used “digital escorts” to monitor its China-based engineers. Through use of these digital escorts, adherence to compliance and security was helped. To the engineers’ credit, they emphasized offering real technical assistance to support non-DoD services. Now, the company has chosen to change course and focus more on upholding its security standards.
Here’s what Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer, said about these changes on X—previously known as Twitter. In his blog post, Shaw promoted the company’s deep commitment to bringing only U.S.-based personnel to sensitive government projects. This provides the highest level of security and operational integrity.
“In response to concerns raised earlier this week about US-supervised foreign engineers, Microsoft has made changes to our support for US Government customers to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD Government cloud and related services.” – Frank X. Shaw
The decision comes amidst relatively new, shifting conversations. These conversations take place against the backdrop of a growing dependency on foreign engineers to maintain and access Department of Defense systems. Influential voices such as Pete Hegseth have weighed in on this issue, stating, “Foreign engineers — from any country, including of course China — should NEVER be allowed to maintain or access DoD systems.”
Microsoft’s policy change is a significant step forward for national security protections. Most importantly, it directly addresses the potential risks associated with foreign participation in sensitive government functions. In these new positions, Microsoft will be focusing on hiring U.S. workers. This decision deepens its resolve to guarding its government clients’ security.
