(Bloomberg) — The Defense Department is seeking a new collaboration with Silicon Valley to gain access to the latest technology and talent as the U.S. seeks to prevent catastrophic cyber-attacks.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made his pitch for cooperation on Thursday, in the first official visit in 20 years by a Pentagon chief to the Northern California region that spawned much of the world's advanced technology. The effort comes amid warnings by defense officials that the U.S. military is losing its technological edge over potential rivals, including China.

Carter, a trained physicist, may have the intellectual candlepower to meet Silicon Valley's leaders on equal footing. But his call for closer ties is likely to meet resistance from high-tech executives still fuming over government spying disclosed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

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