Microsoft responded to a Chinese government hack that compromised more than 60,000 of its customers by expanding operations in the repressive regime. The tech company has nevertheless barreled forward in its Chinese business plan, announcing on March 4 that it will expand its cloud computing service Azure. The U.S.-based tech company has outsourced a large portion of its research and development department to the authoritarian country, where it has had a presence since 1992. The cloud service employs Chinese company 21Vianet as a local partner. The Azure cloud computing service includes facial recognition software, a feature that might be attractive for authoritarian regimes.
