Ethics, Just War Theory, and Autonomy

Trae Stephens, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Anduril, & Partner at Founders Fund, joins Sourcery for a behind-the-scenes conversation on Anduril’s 2017 founding, when defense tech was deeply unpopular in Silicon Valley, the cultural shift that followed, and how software, autonomy, manufacturing scale, and ethics now converge in modern warfare and national security.

Stephens explains Anduril’s core thesis: software-defined, hardware-enabled, and why the company is building a multi-domain autonomy strategy across sea, ground, air, and space. He also outlines the manufacturing view that “the factory is the weapon,” including Anduril’s expansion into scaled production with Arsenal-1 (a planned ~5 million sq ft campus near Columbus, Ohio) and a broader network of facilities and partners.

The conversation also covers ethics and strategy: Stephens discusses Just War Theory (St. Augustine), the goal of increasing precision while removing humans from “dull, dirty, dangerous” roles, and the broader cultural shifts shaping America. He reflects on lessons from Palantir and Founders Fund, including Peter Thiel’s influence, concentration in venture, and “zero-to-one” strategy, and shares what he looks for when investing in founders.

Trae Stephens: https://x.com/traestephens

Molly O’Shea: ⁠https://x.com/MollySOShea⁠

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryvc

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒

YouTube : https://youtu.be/9Fdq1TShG2w

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒

(00:00) Trae Stephens, Co-founder & Executive Chairman Anduril

(01:03) Rise of defense tech & Pete Hegseth visit

(03:58) Origin of Anduril & James Bond dreams

(05:18) Anduril's multi-domain defense strategy

(06:42) China's subsidies & US government investments

(08:46) "Factory is the weapon" & re-industrialization

(10:30) Arsenal-1 Ohio factory

(13:44) What people get wrong about Anduril

(17:08) Biggest Lesson from Palantir

(19:04) Just War theory & defense ethics

(22:16) Cultural shift from AI slop to good quests

(23:49) How Anduril is building “Apple for defense”

(27:03) Founders Fund investments: Varda, Armada, Cognition, General Matter

(29:52) Why is Peter Thiel always right?

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒

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