Inside the Department of Defense and its Vision for the Future

a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From air-defining radar and electronic systems that helped the Allies win World War II, the origins of Silicon Valley are deeply rooted in government and defense. In today's episode, we get the chance to revisit that relationship with the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks. Deputy Secretary Hicks has spent decades of her career focused on defense policy and in her keynote address from a16z's second annual American Dynamism Summit in Washington, D.C., you'll get an inside look into the priorities of the DoD and how it views its past, present, and future. In the second half of the episode, you’ll hear highlights from Deputy Secretary Hicks' fireside chat with Wall Street Journal’s National Security Editor, Sharon Weinberger, where they dive into the numerous issues facing our country today, from Ukraine to the use of AI on the battlefield.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In Real dollars, DOD's 2024 R&D budget request of $145 billion is triple what it was during the Cold War.
0:10.0	It's more than what Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft combined spent on R&D last year.
0:18.0	Defense is not a small market.
0:21.0	Likely one reason behind the recent surge in US defense tech-focused
0:24.6	startups, scale-ups, and private and venture capital. Some 2,000 deals, investing
0:31.5	over a hundred billion dollars since 2021 per pitch book in the Wall Street Journal.
0:37.0	The issue is, are we able to buy what we need and are we thinking far enough ahead to what the shape of warfare needs to be.
0:44.0	What we did in five months normally takes DOD two to three years.
0:50.0	If you're not sure what is more mind-blowing, how fast we did it or how long it normally takes.
0:56.1	I don't blame you.
0:58.5	The origins of Silicon Valley are deeply rooted in government and defense.
1:04.0	From air-defining radar or electronic systems that help the Allies win World War II to the
1:08.7	modern semiconductor, emerging from the need for better missile and satellite capabilities during the Cold War.
1:15.2	Now in today's episode, we get the opportunity to revisit that very relationship,
1:20.5	together with one of the most critical people within the Department of Defense.
1:25.2	That is the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks.
1:30.3	Kathleen has spent decades of her career focused on the evolving complex topic of defense policy,
1:35.2	and today we get the pleasure of hearing her keynote address from A16's E's second annual American
1:41.7	dynamism summit recorded this January in the heart of
1:45.2	Washington DC. This event was not only a platform to celebrate our national
1:49.9	interest but also a forum for engaging in the tough conversations necessary for America's
1:56.1	growth.
	...

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