A new report has shed light on close ties between the Pentagon and some of Silicon Valley's biggest titans.

In 2016, Eric Schmidt, then the executive chairman of Google parent Alphabet, watched as Predator drone operators at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada destroyed a truck in a combat zone somewhere in the world, three sources told ProPublica.

A Defense Department spokeswoman confirmed to DailyMail.com that members of the Defense Innovation Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon of which Schmidt is chairman, visited Creech on July 6, 2016.

Neil deGrasse Tyson was also a member of the Defense Innovation Board at the time - though it is unclear whether he also witnessed the lethal drone strike. Tyson's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon says that the board is a vital way for defense planners to gain insight into fast-evolving technology, and that site visits such as the one at Creech allow the board to see current technology in action and make recommendations for improvement.

But the cozy relationship between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley is coming under new scrutiny as some of the biggest tech companies vie for the massive 10-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to provide cloud services for the Pentagon.

Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Google, is seen in a file photo. He was reportedly on hand to see Predator drone operators destroy a truck in July 2016

A U.S. Air Force pilot (L), and a censor operator (R), prepare to launch a MQ-1B Predator , from a ground control station at a secret air base in the Persian Gulf region in this file photo

This file image shows an artists impression of a US predator drone firing a missile

Schmidt (center) is seen at a Defense Innovation Board meeting at the Pentagon in Jan. 2017

During Schmidt's visit to the drone operations center at Creech, the billionaire noted that the Predator operators seemed to be using technology stuck in the 1970s, and one person present even suggested that Artificial Intelligence might be able to help identify potential targets, according to ProPublica.

A little more than a year after Schmidt's visit, Google won a $17 million Pentagon subcontract for Project Maven, which used machine learning and AI to help the military identify drone targets.

Google declined to comment to ProPublica and did not respond to messages from DailyMail.com.

Facing backlash from its own 'woke' employees after word of Project Maven leaked, Google said last year that it would not renew the contract - and also dropped out of the running for JEDI.

Now only Amazon and Microsoft remain as finalists for JEDI, after protracted protests and challenges to the bidding processes from eliminated competitors Oracle and IBM.

Oracle has raised the loudest noise about the bidding process, accusing Amazon of currying favor with DoD officials through various means.

One startling incident that occurred in August 2017, when then-Defense Secretary James Mattis flew to the West Coast to personally swear in Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to the Defense Innovation Board, sources told ProPublica.

Then-Defense Secretary James Mattis (left) meets with Jeff Bezos at Amazon HQ on August 10, 2017. A planned swearing in ceremony at the meeting was abruptly canceled

Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter (left) gives Bezos a tour of the Pentagon during a visit on May 5, 2016

The ceremony was abruptly called off after Roma Laster, a Pentagon employee sent an urgent email to Mattis' chief of staff saying that it would be a 'noteworthy exception' for Mattis to personally conduct the ceremony.

Laster also raised the alarm that Bezos had failed to submit to a background check to gain the requisite security clearance for the advisory board, the sources said.

Amazon says that Bezos was never told he needed a security clearance, and submitted all the required documents.

Mattis did meet with Bezos, however, and on the same trip went on to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook as well as Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin from Google.

'Department leaders are expected to engage with industry - in a full and open manner within legal boundaries - to find ways to reform our business practices and build a more lethal force,' a defense official told DailyMail.com.

Amazon's defenders note that Mattis' meeting with Bezos took place long before the JEDI request for proposals was issued in March 2018.

Laster, who raised the alarm about the aborted Bezos swearing-in ceremony, said she was shunted aside from her role as federal officer for the Defense Innovation Board.

She was removed from the role in November 2017, but remains a DoD employee, according to ProPublica.

'I've been betrayed by an organization I joined when I was 17 years old,' Laster, who is 54, told the publicaiton. 'This is an organization built on loyalty, dedication and patriotism. Unfortunately, it is kind of one-way.'