--- description: Microsoft will offer software to track marijuana from "seed to sale" title: Microsoft Gets Into Legal Weed Business image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98bf1a3a327dad04/69889858fb4eac120888df6a/microsoft-marijuana-tech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Microsoft Gets Into Legal Weed Business by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 17, 2016 3:19 PM CUT  A Microsoft logo is seen next to a cloud the day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles on June 14, 2016. A Microsoft logo is seen next to a cloud the day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles on June 14, 2016.Lucy Nicholson—Reuters by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 17, 2016 3:19 PM CUT Microsoft announced a partnership this week to start offering software that tracks marijuana sales, breaking a corporate taboo on pot. Currently, 25 states have [legalized marijuana](http://time.com/3682969/pot-legalization-2020/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") in some form, such as recreational or medical, but marijuana is still deemed illegal by the federal government. This software aims to help these states keep track of marijuana plants from “seed to sale,” the [New York _Times_ reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/business/dealbook/microsoft-following-the-clouds-to-offer-marijuana-tracking-software.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). Microsoft announced on Thursday it will partner with Los Angeles startup [Kind](http://kind.financial "undefined"), a company working to make the marijuana business mainstream. While Microsoft will not be directly involved in marijuana sales, it will work with Kind’s “government solutions” division, offering software to state and local governments. This fall, at least five states will vote on [legalizing marijuana](http://time.com/3748075/marijuana-legalization-2016/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") for recreational use. Microsoft’s partnership with Kind comes after its announcement on Monday that it would [buy LinkedIn.](http://time.com/4367134/microsoft-linkedin-buy/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined") [\[The New York _Times_\]](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/business/dealbook/microsoft-following-the-clouds-to-offer-marijuana-tracking-software.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4373136/microsoft-marijuana/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4373136/microsoft-marijuana/"},"headline":"Microsoft Gets Into Legal Weed Business","datePublished":"2016-06-17T15:19:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:08.530Z","description":"Microsoft will offer software to track marijuana from \"seed to sale\"","url":"https://time.com/4373136/microsoft-marijuana/","keywords":["Tech","Marijuana"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98bf1a3a327dad04/69889858fb4eac120888df6a/microsoft-marijuana-tech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98bf1a3a327dad04/69889858fb4eac120888df6a/microsoft-marijuana-tech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Microsoft logo is seen next to a cloud the day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California","caption":"A Microsoft logo is seen next to a cloud the day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles on June 14, 2016.","creditText":"Lucy Nicholson—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4373136/microsoft-marijuana/","name":"Microsoft Gets Into Legal Weed Business"}}]}] ```