After a Pro Publica report revealed that Microsoft was qemploying engineers in China to assist in the maintenance of cloud computing systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company announced that it has implemented measures to prevent this from occurring in the future.

According to reports, the engineers based in China were supervised by “digital escorts” under the current system. However, Pro Publica has reported that the escorts, who were U.S. citizens with security clearances, occasionally lacked the technical expertise to effectively supervise the engineers.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded to the allegation by stating on X, “Foreign engineers—from any country, including, of course, China—should NEVER be permitted to access or maintain DoD systems.”

Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer, responded on July 18, by stating that the company has changed its support for US Government customers to ensure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD Government cloud and related services.
This change was made in response to concerns raised earlier this week about US-supervised foreign engineers.