How Anduril Is Reimagining the Defense Industry: Faster Tech, Ethical AI, and a New Kind of Deterrence | Trae Stephens (Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Anduril)

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What happens when you apply Silicon Valley’s speed and innovation to reinvent defense technology? Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril, is running that experiment in real-time. His company creates software-driven, hardware-enabled autonomous systems designed to transform national security capabilities amid growing global tensions.

In today's episode, Trae and I dive deep into the ethics of warfare, technology's evolving role in national defense, the complexities of Great Power conflict with China, and how Trae’s personal faith shapes his vision for responsible innovation.

We explore:

• An overview of Anduril's mission and platform

• A look at the "Four Americas" and why we need a strong military

• How Trae uncovered gaps in intelligence that led to Anduril’s founding

• The “don’t work at Anduril” campaign and how transparency filters talent

• A glimpse at Anduril’s reading list and the case for organizational reading lists

• An overview of Lattice, the software behind every platform Anduril builds

• Why too much innovation can be a problem

• How Anduril took over the IVAX project from Microsoft

• Why single domain defense companies won’t win

• An overview of Just War Theory, and how it guides Anduril’s mission

• How the U.S. is stacking up against China’s intelligence and military

• How Anduril’s mission is compatible with Trae’s faith

• Lessons from Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and Palmer Luckey

• And much more!

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(04:33) An overview of Anduril

(05:31) The surprising way Trae got into Georgetown

(11:58) Trae’s work with computational linguistics

(13:37) “The four Americas” and why we need a strong military

(16:05) How Trae uncovered gaps in intelligence and military that prompted Anduril’s founding

(20:49) Why the incentive structure in the defense industry wasn’t working

(23:08) An overview of Anduril’s leadership

(25:53) The first Anduril office and how they approach hiring

(31:13) The Anduril reading list

(34:23) Anduril’s building philosophy, and the software behind all their products

(38:45) How Anduril partners with DOD to understand what to build

(41:21) Why too much innovation is not sellable

(45:29) How Anduril took over the IVAS program from Microsoft

(47:57) The future of weaponry

(51:26) Anduril’s growth strategy: buying and building

(55:02) The single domain companies Trae is excited about

(58:44) How the US stacks up against China

(1:05:20) Trae’s thoughts on conflict resolution and the current administration’s approach

(1:08:14) How Anduril’s work in Europe may change

(1:09:37) Why Trae believes his work aligns with his faith

(1:12:39) An overview of “Just War Theory”

(1:15:38) Lessons from Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and Palmer Luckey

(1:19:05) Final meditations

Follow Trae Stephens

X: https://x.com/traestephens

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trae-stephens-485a811/

Resources and episode mentions

Books

• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547

• The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11: https://www.amazon.com/Looming-Tower-Al-Qaeda-Road-11/dp/1400030846

• Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre 1st Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/0878301178

• The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Chain-Defending-America-High-Tech/dp/031653353X

• David’s Sling: https://www.amazon.com/Davids-Sling-Marc-Stiegler/dp/0671653695/

• Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed: https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/

• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296

• Bible: https://www.bible.com/

• Dune: https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717

• Stranger in a Strange Land: https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/198480278X/

People

• Matt Grimm on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mttgrmm/

• Ashton B. Carter: https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/article/602689/ashton-b-carter/

• Palmer Luckey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/palmer-luckey-21a16959/

• Brian Schimpf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschimpf/

• Babak Siavoshy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsiavoshy/

• Christian Brose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-brose-50b026ab/

• Matt Steckman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-steckman-4a23a8b0/

• Mike Shebat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-shebat/

• Alexander Karp: https://www.forbes.com/profile/alexander-karp/

• Peter Thiel on X: https://x.com/peterthiel

Other resources

• Founders Fund: https://foundersfund.com/

• Anduril: https://www.anduril.com/

• Lockheed Martin: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/

• How America Fractured Into Four Parts: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/george-packer-four-americas/619012/

• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/

• F-35: https://www.f35.com/f35/index.html

• Oculus (acquired by Meta): https://www.meta.com/quest/

• Don’t work at Anduril: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andurilindustries_dont-work-at-anduril-its-just-built-different-activity-7298011098404794370-k9QV/

• Traba: https://traba.work/

• Trae’s post on X about his reading list at Palantir: https://x.com/traestephens/status/1853928501193449509

• Anduril’s Lattice: https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-s-lattice-a-trusted-dual-use-commercial-and-military-platform-for-public-safety-security/

• American Vulcan: https://www.tabletmag.com/feature/american-vulcan-palmer-luckey-anduril

• Laplace’s demon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace%27s_demon

• Palmer Luckey’s post on X about IVAS: https://x.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1889362569049284760

• IVAS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Visual_Augmentation_System

• Anduril Selected for U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program: https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-air-force-collaborative-combat-aircraft-CCA/

• Hadrian: https://www.hadrian.co/

• Senra Systems: https://www.senrasystems.us/

• Dirak: https://us.dirak.com/

• An Interactive Look at the U.S.-China Military Scorecard: https://www.rand.org/paf/projects/us-china-scorecard.html

• Military production during World War II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II

• Just war theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war_theory

• St. Augustine: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine

• 'Flying Ginsu': A closer look at the missile that took out a US target: https://www.scrippsnews.com/world/investigating-a-drone-assassination-of-militia-leaders-in-baghdad

• Mimetic Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimetic_theory

• Edward Ruscha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ruscha

• Science is Truth Found Out: https://www.artspace.com/ed_ruscha/science-is-truth-found-out

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