Better Health for All
10
Microsoft's core software and cloud services demonstrate a strategic focus on improving health outcomes. Its AI-driven solutions, such as the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Copilot, have significantly enhanced clinician productivity, reducing documentation time by 50% for over 500 U.S. healthcare groups and 1.3 million monthly encounters.
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Other AI models and services in Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare aim to unify diverse health data, streamline care management, and enhance team collaboration.
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The company also actively addresses health data responsibility by offering de-identification services and governance tools to protect health data across various platforms.
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Furthermore, Microsoft's comprehensive environmental sustainability initiatives, including commitments to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, contribute to substantial positive health externalities by reducing pollution, with over 100 million cubic meters of water replenishment contracted.
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The Cybersecurity for Rural Hospitals Program, protecting access to healthcare for 46 million people, and AI for Good Lab's work identifying vulnerable communities at climate risk, represent significant contributions to global health crisis preparedness.
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Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Microsoft's core business is software and cloud services, not direct consumer financial services. Consequently, several KPIs related to lending, fees, debt, and financial product complexity are not applicable. The company does not offer lending or deposit services to consumers, nor does it provide consumer credit products or generate customer finance data. It is not regulated as a lender and does not operate financial service access points. While Microsoft engages in extensive initiatives such as digital skills training for 14.1 million people, with over 80% from underserved groups, and investments like $150 million in Minority Depository Institutions, these do not provide the specific 'share of loan/insurance book' or 'percentage of users showing credit-score rise' required by the rubric for direct scoring.
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Similarly, while the company makes significant investments and donations, the percentage of annual pre-tax profit reinvested is not disclosed. Explicit financial literacy programs with quantifiable reach and outcomes are also not detailed in the provided articles.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
30
Globally, women at Microsoft earn $1.0 for every $1.0 earned by men in comparable roles
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. In the U.S., racial and ethnic minority groups combined earn $1.0 for every $1.0 earned by white employees in comparable roles
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. More specifically in the U.S., female employees earn 99.8 cents for every $1 earned by men
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, Hispanic/Latino(a) employees earn 99.9 cents for every $1 earned by Caucasian employees
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, African American/black employees earn $1.003
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, and Asian employees earn $1.006 for every $1 earned by Caucasian employees at the same job title and level
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. Microsoft commits to publicly disclosing equal pay data annually
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. Employee survey results show a global and U.S. "Inclusive team" score of 86
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, and global and U.S. "thriving scores" of 76
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. The "Contribute to D&I" score is 82 globally and 81 in the U.S.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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No forced labor was found in Microsoft's Devices and Cloud Hardware electronics supply chain in fiscal year 2024.
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The company enforces a comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct, which mandates compliance with international labor standards, including the prohibition of forced and child labor.
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Directly contracted suppliers are contractually obligated to meet these requirements and cascade them to their sub-tier suppliers.
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Microsoft also provides a complaints procedure for reporting potential violations of the Supplier Code of Conduct.
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Honest & Fair Business
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Microsoft incurred $23.3 million in ethics-related regulatory fines in the past three years, including a $20 million settlement with the FTC for children's privacy violations
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and over $3.3 million for U.S. sanctions violations
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. The company received an EcoVadis Supplier Sustainability Rating of 64 in 2024
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. Microsoft faces multiple significant controversies, including employee protests over the use of its AI models in Israeli military operations linked to civilian deaths
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, a copyright lawsuit from The New York Times alleging unauthorized use of content for AI training
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, an FTC antitrust lawsuit over its Activision Blizzard acquisition
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, an EU antitrust investigation regarding the integration of Teams
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, and the disbandment of its AI ethics and society team
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. Microsoft maintains a comprehensive anti-corruption policy that applies globally to all employees and representatives, prohibiting bribes, kickbacks, and facilitation payments
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. This policy is supported by risk-based due diligence using data analytics since 2019
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, enhanced vetting for higher-risk representatives
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, and anti-corruption training for employees, partners, and suppliers
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. The company also employs a compliance analytics program utilizing cloud-based data analytics, machine learning, and AI to detect and mitigate corruption risks, including real-time risk scoring on sales quotes and conducting corruption and bribery risk assessments
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. For reporting concerns, Microsoft provides multiple channels, including an anonymous external hotline
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, protects confidentiality
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, and prohibits retaliation
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, with a global compliance investigation team in place
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Kind to Animals
20
Microsoft is recognized on Cruelty Free Investing's 'safe list,' indicating its operations do not involve harming or exploiting animals.
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This implies a global corporate ban on all animal testing across every product category, with no animals used in any testing protocols. As a company primarily focused on software and cloud services, Microsoft has no animal-derived products, animal husbandry, captive operations, or sourcing of eggs, meat, or dairy, rendering several animal-related KPIs not applicable to its core business. The company actively contributes to wildlife conservation, having protected 15,849 acres of land, exceeding its target by over 30%.
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Its AI for Good Lab developed SPARROW, an AI-powered wildlife monitoring system.
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It led to 13 marten detections in Olympic National Park between 2017 and 2019, surpassing the total recorded in the previous half-century.
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Microsoft also uses AI to monitor deforestation in the Amazon
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and collaborates on tools to combat illegal wildlife trade.
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No War, No Weapons
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Microsoft derives an estimated 11.9% of its annual revenue from defense contracts
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, including a $22 billion contract for HoloLens augmented reality visors for the U.S. Army
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,
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, and shares in multi-billion dollar cloud service contracts with the DoD and CIA
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. The company is a key player in dual-use technologies like cloud services, AI, and augmented reality, with extensive military applications
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. OpenAI, a major Microsoft investment, changed its terms of use to allow "national security use cases," removing a previous ban on military use
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. Microsoft's Responsible AI Transparency Report does not mention its military contracts
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, and employee protests have highlighted ethical concerns regarding AI technology sales to the Israeli military and other defense applications
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. While Microsoft states its policies are based on international human rights standards, including the UN Global Compact
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, and publishes human rights reports
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, the implementation is uneven, particularly concerning military contracts and AI use in conflict zones. Transparency regarding involvement in military surveillance is limited, with Microsoft declining to comment on services to the Israeli military
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and many projects being classified
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. In its 2024 Conflict Minerals Report, 94% of eligible smelters/refiners were conformant to conflict-free audit protocols
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, and the company conducts annual war-related supply chain risk audits with public disclosure
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Planet-Friendly Business
-30
Microsoft has pledged to become carbon negative by 2030.
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The company also aims to remove all historical emissions since its founding in 1975 by 2050.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
50
Microsoft demonstrates strong commitment to cultural sensitivity training, with a 99% average employee completion rate for required D&I learning courses covering allyship, privilege, and unconscious bias.
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Additionally, 30 managers from Microsoft Vancouver completed a specific 'Bringing Into Balance' cultural awareness course in Spring 2024.
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The company has established at least 10 formal partnerships with indigenous or local community groups, including the Queensland Government, First Nations Technology Council, Nuxalk Nation, Government of Nunavut, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Native Women’s Association of Canada, Indigital, Dharug Nation, Arhuaco community, and NAIDOC.
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Microsoft actively protects cultural sites by collaborating with the Dharug Nation to incorporate Indigenous art and design into a Western Sydney data center
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and partnering with the Arhuaco community to maintain records of sacred sites.
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The company also shows strong local language support by introducing Inuktitut Text-to-Speech models on Azure, developed with the Government of Nunavut, to preserve and revitalize the language.
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Safe & Smart Tech
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Microsoft was recognized as a leader in AI Governance Platforms in November 2023
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, detailing policies and practices for responsible AI development, including multi-layered governance, risk management, model evaluations, red teaming, and security controls
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. The company proactively identified and took legal action, including obtaining a court order to seize a website
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, against developers circumventing AI safeguards to produce harmful content like deepfakes in February 2025
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. However, Microsoft disbanded its AI ethics and society team in March 2023
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. Its subsidiary, LinkedIn, was sued in January 2025
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for allegedly disclosing private messages to third parties without permission to train AI models
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. The lawsuit claims privacy settings were not effectively communicated
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, and opting out would not affect previous data use
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. In May 2025, Microsoft introduced the 'Recall' feature, which takes screenshots of user activity every few seconds
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, leading to critics raising concerns about excessive data collection and comparing it to spyware
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. The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office also approached Microsoft regarding these potential privacy issues
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. These incidents indicate gaps in regulatory compliance and user data control.
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
-20
Microsoft's products demonstrate a high calculated recyclability of 94%.
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The company reported a 67.8% waste diversion rate in 2021 through reuse, recycling, and composting.
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Microsoft has set company-wide waste reduction targets, aiming for zero waste by 2030 with specific diversion and reuse goals, and plans to eliminate single-use plastics in packaging by 2025.
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In 2023, single-use plastics in packaging were reduced to 2.7% by weight, and packaging contained 53.8% post-consumer recycled content.
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Circular design principles are evident in Surface devices, which feature 11 to 14 modular and replaceable components to enhance repairability and extend product lifespan.
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Additionally, Microsoft's Circular Centers achieved a 90.9% reuse and recycling rate for decommissioned servers and hardware, and the Redmond campus achieved Zero Waste Facility Certification at the Gold level by diverting 90% of waste.
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Xbox Series S and controllers also incorporate up to 30% post-consumer recycled resins.
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