New York (AFP)

Amazon has directly accused US President Donald Trump of influencing the Pentagon's award of a $ 10-billion megacontrol of cloud data to Microsoft in late October, according to a court document released today. on Monday.

According to the e-commerce giant, the White House tenant has "repeatedly waged public and behind-the-scenes attacks" to ensure that Amazon does not get the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract ten years, which aims to modernize the entire computer systems of the US armed forces in a system managed by artificial intelligence.

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) division, which dominates the cloud computing industry and provides secure servers to other US government agencies, including the CIA, was considered a favorite for the contract.

In a 100-page document, the Seattle group believes that Donald Trump's enmity with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, "perceived as a political enemy," played a significant role in the Pentagon's decision.

Bezos is a frequent target of virulent attacks by the Republican president, notably because of his investment in the Washington Post, one of the most critical daily newspapers of Mr. Trump and his government.

"The President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of our Army has used his power to" free Amazon "of the JEDI contract as part of a high-profile, personal feud against Mr. Bezos, Amazon and the Washington Post" says the document.

In this complaint, Amazon asks the Pentagon to "re-evaluate the offers in a fair way and without inappropriate influence, direct or indirect".

- Thousand billion dollars -

"The question is, should the US president be allowed to use the Ministry of Defense budget for personal and political purposes?" The group said.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the decision was made "in accordance with the normal source selection process" and that no outside pressure was exerted.

The ministry "is confident in its choice of JEDI contract award," she added.

This Amazon complaint "will make noise and cause delays in the start of the contract," says Daniel Ives, analyst firm Wedbush Securities, "but we do not think it will change the result."

This contract could have a profound impact on the rapidly growing market for remote computing services.

In the third quarter of 2019, the global cloud services market was $ 27.5 billion, 37 percent more than a year ago, according to the Canalys consulting and research firm.

Amazon Web Services accounted for 33% of this market, followed by Microsoft Azure (14.5%) and Google Cloud (5.6%).

The JEDI contract "changes the game in favor of Microsoft," continues Daniel Ives. "This victory will have chain consequences for the group's cloud business over the years."

"This signals, in our opinion, the beginning of an era where the company of Satya Nadella (boss of Microsoft, ed) is gaining more and more against AWS in a cloud market that will rise to one trillion (one trillion) dollars in spending over the next decade. "

© 2019 AFP