Silicon Valley Firm Inks DOD Deal

REDWOOD CITY, CA — A Redwood City tech firm announced Wednesday that it reached a multiyear defense contract earlier this year in a deal that underscores Silicon Valley’s complicated relationship with the military.

Box, a cloud content management firm, reached a deal with the Defense Contract Management Agency, the company said in a news release. The DCMA serves the Department of Defense.

The five-year deal valued at $6.2 million is among the most recent between big tech and the military.

In recent years, thousands of tech workers in the staunchly progressive Bay Area have railed against Silicon Valley’s dealings with the military and law enforcement that in they believe are anathema to their values, NBC News reports.

Tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft have upwards of 5,000 deals with military and law enforcement agencies such as the DOD, ICE, the DEA and the FBI according to a Tech Inquiry report in July.

More than 4,000 Google employees in 2018 protested the search giant’s involvement in a controversial AI project, Wired reports.

The Box contract with DCMA involves an agency that manages 300,000 contracts valued at more than $7 trillion at 15,000 worldwide contract locations, the company said.

Box, which was founded in 2005, contracts with major global companies including AstraZeneca, General Electric, JLL, and Morgan Stanley. The Peninsula company has offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.