It is now undeniable that Microsoft is part of the US war machine. Late last month, the tech company won a ten-year, $10 billion contract from the Defense Department — giving it the chance to completely remake the US military’s digital infrastructure, from providing basic storage to using artificial intelligence to “increase the [military’s] lethality.”

Microsoft wasn’t the only company bidding on the project, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). Amazon, IBM, and Oracle all threw their hats in the ring, too. But Microsoft stole the prize at the final hour from Amazon, which had been seen as the front-runner. Only Google dropped its bid, claiming the contract “didn’t align with their AI principles.” The decision was likely a tactical one — knowing that its cloud platform lacked the required government certifications to win (and facing internal pressure from employees), Google opted to cash out on the good press instead.

At eleven figures, JEDI is by far the largest-ever Pentagon cloud contract and marks the dawn of a new age of AI-embedded technological militarism. But unlike the Jedi who fought to restore freedom and justice in the galaxy, this contract feels closer to the oppressive agenda of the bad guys in the cinematic Star Wars saga — the Imperial Forces.