Defence deals are crucial, Silicon Valley can't ignore business of war

The American tech economy rests on the foundations of the military-industrial complex yet Silicon Valley's culture is deeply influenced by scepticism about this same military establishment

The sunny precincts of Silicon Valley have been wrestling for months with the question of whether technology companies should stay out of work related to the military. Google recently announced that it would no longer compete for a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract. Microsoft employees have pressured its chief executive to do the same.

But one tech leader has been clear about his support for the Pentagon, saying, “If big tech companies are going to turn their back on the US Department of Defence, this country is going to be in trouble.” That was Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon,