【By Observer Net, Yuan Jiaqi】
In June this year, at a ceremony held at the Meier-Henderson Joint Base in Arlington, Virginia, USA, four current and former technology executives from Meta, OpenAI, and Palantir wore combat uniforms and military boots on stage, swearing to "defend America."
Just recently, the U.S. Army had established a special unit for these executives. At the ceremony, they were awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and will provide advice to the Army on applying emerging technologies in potential future conflicts within this new unit called "Detachment 201."
Previously, these executives had all undergone basic training. When talking about this, Daniel Driscoll, the Secretary of the Army, said, "We urgently need what they are good at. They risked their lives to come here and fight alongside us, and we are deeply grateful."
This scene indicates that the relationship between Silicon Valley, the core area of global technology, and the U.S. military is undergoing a significant transformation. Recently, the U.S. media outlet The New York Times published an in-depth article focusing on the major role shift of these Silicon Valley tech giants from former anti-war pioneers to new defense elites.
On June 13 local time, a swearing-in ceremony for technology executives affiliated with "Detachment 201" was held at the Meier-Henderson Joint Base in Arlington, USA. Video screenshot from the Department of Defense's "Defense Visual Information Service" (DVIDS) website
The article points out that this transformation marks a significant turning point in Silicon Valley culture. For a long time, Silicon Valley has actively kept its distance from the defense industry, holding up slogans such as "connecting the world" and "do no evil," promising that its technology would not be used for military purposes.
At that time, cooperation with the U.S. government was not a popular option. Signing software and cloud computing contracts with the Department of Defense once triggered strong protests from internal employees.
But now, this attitude has been completely reversed. In the past two years, leaders and investors in Silicon Valley have dived into the wave of the military-industrial complex.
Meta, Google, and OpenAI had previously clearly prohibited the use of artificial intelligence for weapons in their company policies, but have now deleted the relevant clauses. OpenAI is also developing counter-drone technology, while Meta is manufacturing virtual reality (VR) glasses for training soldiers.
Many tech giants who once avoided involvement in weapons and war are now even unwilling to merely provide technology; their executives personally wear military uniforms and swear to join the military.
U.S. media believe that all of this marks the beginning of a new era—a period where technology, capital, and military power are accelerating their integration.
Silicon Valley's "militarization" is actually the revival of the DNA of the "military-industrial complex."
The New York Times analyzed that the "militarization" of Silicon Valley, the technological hub of the United States, is often considered to be driven by changes in the political climate, competition for technological leadership against China, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. However, when traced back to the root, it is actually returning to its essence.
Before becoming a technological center, the location of Silicon Valley was once a quiet orchard. In the 1950s, to counter the technological advantage of the former Soviet Union during the Cold War, the U.S. Department of Defense began investing in technology companies in the region. This made the federal government the earliest major supporter of Silicon Valley.
The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) later incubated multiple technologies, including the Internet, which formed the foundation of large companies in Silicon Valley. In 1998, graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page from Stanford University received funding from DARPA and other government agencies, leading to the birth of Google (Google).
By the late 1990s and early 21st century, technology companies shifted their focus to consumer technologies such as e-commerce and social networks. At that time, they portrayed themselves as doing good deeds and popularizing technology for the masses, attracting a large number of liberal employees who opposed cooperation with defense institutions.
In 2018, over 4,000 Google employees protested a Pentagon contract called "Project Maven," which aimed to use Google's artificial intelligence technology to analyze drone surveillance footage. In a letter to management, the employees stated that Google "should not get involved in the war industry."
Google quickly stated it would not renew the Pentagon's contract and withdrew from bidding for the $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract "JEDI."
That same year, Google released guidelines for its future AI projects, prohibiting the use of artificial intelligence for "primary purposes or purposes that directly or indirectly lead to casualties in weapons or other technologies." Other companies also followed suit and made similar commitments.
On March 4, 2024, the director general of Google Israel gave a speech, during which a Google Cloud engineer stood up and angrily shouted, "I refuse to develop technology that enables genocide or surveillance!" The man was then escorted out by security. Video screenshot
However, there were exceptions. Palantir, a technology data analysis company founded in 2003, had its CEO Alex Karp very eager to let Silicon Valley play a greater role in defense. As a result, he sued the U.S. Army in 2016, forcing it to consider purchasing Palantir's software. Palantir claimed that the Army failed to fully consider commercial options that met its needs.
Eventually, Palantir won the lawsuit. Following this, other technology companies also provided software and cloud computing services to the Department of Defense.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and AI Technology Rise, Silicon Valley Dives into Military Industry
When the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza brought autonomous drones and facial recognition software into the battlefield, engineers and executives in Silicon Valley realized that the next war would be won by the party with the most advanced technology.
At the same time, the political climate also changed, and some executives and venture capitalists began publicly supporting right-wing views and candidates. Competition with China in technological advantages also prompted many tech professionals to be more inclined to ally with the U.S. government.
Thus, Palantir became a model for other tech companies. With software contracts for data organization and analysis with the U.S. government and military, the company's market value soared to over $375 billion in August this year, surpassing the combined market values of traditional defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics.
As CEO Karp stated in a letter to shareholders in May, although some critics had previously dismissed Palantir's interest in "arming the United States," "some people in Silicon Valley have now changed their attitudes," beginning to "emulate" its approach.
In January 2024, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, removed the clauses from its policy page that prohibited the use of its technology for "weapon development" and "military and warfare." In December of the same year, the company announced a partnership with the defense technology startup Anduril to jointly develop an AI system for counter-drone applications.
On September 4 local time, President Trump hosted a banquet at the White House for U.S. tech leaders, with Apple CEO Cook and OpenAI's Altman attending. Visual China
Meta also revised its policy, allowing its artificial intelligence technology to be used for military purposes. In May of this year, the company also announced a collaboration with Anduril to jointly develop VR equipment for soldier training.
At that time, Meta's Chief Technology Officer Bosworth stated, "The application of these technologies by American industry will greatly ensure the national security of the United States." He himself was one of the newly joined members of the "Detachment 201" and was awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Then, in February of this year, Google also announced the abandonment of its ban on using artificial intelligence in weapons. In a blog post, the company stated, "In an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, the world is engaged in a competition for leadership in artificial intelligence. We believe that 'democratic countries' should lead the development of artificial intelligence."
Evidently, defense startups like Anduril are one of the main beneficiaries of the transformation of Silicon Valley's militarization.
This company was founded in 2017 by tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, who developed the Oculus virtual reality headset. It focuses on designing AI-driven weapons. In March, Anduril signed a $642 million contract with the Marines to provide counter-drone technology, and in October, it signed a $250 million contract with the Department of Defense for improvements in air defense technology.
In June, Anduril announced the completion of a new round of financing worth $2.5 billion, bringing its valuation to $30.5 billion.
During this time, due to the influx of a large amount of venture capital, numerous startups in the U.S. weapons and defense sectors have emerged like mushrooms after rain. McKinsey data shows that venture capital investment in U.S. defense-related companies increased by 33% last year, reaching $31 billion.
"A hype cycle"
In August 2024, the U.S. startup incubator Y Combinator, known for incubating companies like Airbnb and food delivery platform DoorDash, invested in a defense startup for the first time.
Three years ago, when Regent's CEO Billy Thalheimer attended a Y Combinator event, he felt out of place.
Thalheimer recalled that at the time, other startups at Y Combinator were promoting cryptocurrency projects, while Regent was a company manufacturing electric sea gliders for military and other uses. He said he felt that there was a bias against defense technology.
After 2023, Regent has raised over $100 million from billionaire investor Mark Cuban and conservative tech billionaire, PayPal founder Peter Thiel, among others. In March of this year, the company signed a $15 million contract with the Marines and is currently building a factory in Rhode Island.
Thalheimer said that there are now hundreds of startups focused on defense technology. "It's obvious that we're in a hype cycle."
In Hayward, California, the factory of the largest U.S. drone manufacturer Skydio is working hard to produce. In June this year, the company signed a $74 million contract with the U.S. State Department to provide drones to global drug enforcement and law enforcement agencies.
Adam Bry founded the company in 2014, and it has now raised $230 million, employing over 800 people. In 2024, the company was sanctioned by China for illegal arms sales to Taiwan, and since then, it has faced serious supply chain crises.
Bry said that the speed of demand for new technologies from the military has changed dramatically. He took three years to sign his first contract to supply drones to the military, but this year, he only needed less than a month to sign a new contract for continued supply.
"We finally felt the real sense of urgency," said Bry.
The increasingly close relationship between Silicon Valley and defense agencies was vividly demonstrated at a summit event this March.
At that time, hundreds of people gathered in Washington to attend a summit organized by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a top venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. This venture capital company emphasized its project named "American Dynamism," which covers investments in defense companies.
The keynote speaker at the summit was the U.S. Vice President Vance. He was also a venture capitalist and had invested in Anduril.
Vance said at the time, "We should not fear productive new technologies. In fact, we should seek to lead them. This is certainly the goal the current administration hopes to achieve."
Vance speaking at the a16z summit
David Ulevitch, a general partner at a16z, also stated in a statement, "Investing in defense technology is both necessary and urgent. Technological superiority is a necessary condition for a strong democracy."
Just in 2023, a16z had already announced that it would invest $500 million in defense technology and other companies that help the United States move forward.
The New York Times mentioned that in April this year, President Trump issued an executive order requiring the military to update its systems for procuring new technologies. His proposed domestic policy bill allocated a record $1 trillion budget for the defense sector in 2026, covering the development and procurement of technologies such as autonomous drones. Silicon Valley executives and venture capitalists are eyeing this huge windfall greedily.
However, some technology company executives and engineers are deeply concerned about the potential dangers behind this transformation. Three engineers from Google and Meta told the U.S. media that once they develop autonomous drones and AI weapons for the military, they will have almost no control over how these technologies are deployed. The possibility of advanced weapons causing more casualties also makes them feel ethically uneasy about their participation in the development.
Margaret O'Mara, a technology historian at the University of Washington, said helplessly, "These Silicon Valley companies are extremely competitive, and in their rush to enter the defense sector, they rarely stop to think about the potential risks."
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