Jeff Bezos says employee activists are wrong and Silicon Valley firms should feel comfortable doing business with the US military

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos threw his support behind the US Department of Defense on Friday, saying big tech firms have a responsibility to collaborate with the military or else "this country is in trouble."

Employee movements within big tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have been known to scupper big contracts with the Pentagon, the most high-profile being Google's abandoned military drone contract Project Maven.

Bezos said it's the responsibility of management to push back against employee outrage towards military contracts.

Amazon is currently appealing a Pentagon decision to award a $10 billion defense contract to Microsoft over Amazon.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos threw his weight behind the US Department of Defense on Friday, saying that unless big tech companies collaborate with the US military, "this country is in trouble."

Bezos was being interviewed at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California, and brought the conversation round to the issue employee movements within big tech companies to block contracts with the military.

"One of the things that's happening inside technology companies is there are groups of employees who for example think that technology companies should not work with the Department of Defense," said Bezos.

The most notable example of this was Google's military drone contract Project Maven, which the company abandoned after intense employee backlash.

"I think it's a really important issue, and people are entitled to their opinions, but it is the job of a senior leadership team to say no," said Bezos.

"It's the senior leadership's team to say to people, 'Look, I understand these are emotional issues, that's okay and we don't have to agree on everything, but this is how we're going to do it. We are going to support the Department of Defense.' This country is important," he added.

Amazon has also had its fair share of employee outrage for its work with government agencies. Amazon employees have petitioned the company's leadership to end its relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). So far these efforts have been unsuccessful.

Bezos framed big tech's involvement with the military as a national security issue. "My view is if big tech is going to turn their backs on the Department of Defense, this country is in trouble. That just can't happen," Bezos said.

"We are the good guys, I really believe that. And I know it's complicated, but do you want a strong national defense or don't you? I think you do," he added.

Amazon is currently protesting a decision by the Pentagon to award a $10 billion cloud contract (called JEDI) to Microsoft rather than Amazon. Prior to Microsoft winning JEDI Amazon had been tipped as the company most likely to get the contract. Court documents unsealed last week showed Amazon is alleging anti-Amazon bias on the part of President Trump.

You can watch the entire interview below:

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