Anduril Founder Slams US Lawmakers, Silicon Valley Over China Tech Race
WASHINGTON — Trae Stephens, co-founder and executive chairman of defense technology firm Anduril Industries, delivered a sharp rebuke of American lawmakers and Silicon Valley on Tuesday, asserting that legislative gridlock and tech industry hesitancy are ceding strategic ground to China in the development of advanced military technologies.
Speaking at the Hill and Valley Forum in Washington, Stephens argued the United States is failing to adequately respond to what he termed a “high-tech arsenal of autocracy” race with Beijing. “Our federal government is not doing its job,” Stephens stated, adding that it “does not facilitate us build great things” or “solve hard problems,” and has, in effect, “abandoned its post.”
Stephens, who also serves as a partner at the venture capital firm Founders Fund, highlighted a series of legislative failures spanning decades. He cited the ongoing inability of Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform despite broad public support – estimating 70 to 80 percent of Americans favor such measures – as one example of systemic dysfunction. He also criticized the U.S. Healthcare system, noting its comparatively high costs and comparatively poor outcomes, and the nation’s declining performance in education, particularly in math and science, at a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the job market.
The criticism extended to recent infrastructure spending, with Stephens expressing skepticism about the tangible results of over a trillion dollars allocated through recent legislation aimed at bolstering the semiconductor and green energy sectors. He claimed the investment had yielded little more than “a handful of lousy EV charging stations and not a single fully built chips fab.” He underscored the point by noting that the U.S. Has not launched a crewed mission to the moon in his lifetime.
Stephens also leveled criticism at the technology industry, specifically Silicon Valley’s historical reluctance to engage with the Pentagon. He recalled resistance to projects like Project Maven in the 2010s, arguing that while some segments of the tech establishment were distancing themselves from defense work, China was simultaneously strengthening its technological capabilities. “There is no moral neutrality in that decision,” he said.
His remarks came as Anduril began production at its fresh $1 billion manufacturing facility, Arsenal-1, located south of Columbus, Ohio. The facility is projected to create over 4,000 jobs over the next decade and will initially focus on producing the company’s FURY autonomous combat drone, which is being developed for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, designed to pair uncrewed aircraft with piloted fighter jets.
Stephens’s criticisms echo concerns raised by other defense industry leaders regarding the pace of innovation and the ability of the U.S. To compete with China’s rapidly advancing military technology. His comments also come amid ongoing debate within the tech community about the ethical implications of military applications of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.