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US Defense Secretary Mattis Begins Tech Outreach with Amazon Visit

by Reuters

   MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA --

   U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis kicked off his first official visit
   to the U.S. technology industry on Thursday with a tour of Amazon's
   headquarters in Seattle, the first stop on a two-day outreach campaign
   intended to highlight the Pentagon's commitment to tech innovation.

   Mattis was scheduled to visit Mountain View, California, later in the
   day to tour the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Experimental Unit, or
   DIUx, a Silicon Valley outpost set up in 2015 by his predecessor, Ash
   Carter.

   He was also expected to visit Alphabet's Google headquarters in Palo
   Alto on Friday.

   "A pleasure to host #SecDef James Mattis at Amazon HQ in Seattle
   today," Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos wrote on Twitter.

   The visit comes as the Trump administration has sparred with the
   technology industry on a host of issues, including immigration, privacy
   and net neutrality.