01:26:55 · Ty Morse, Soren Monroe-Anderson
[01:26:55] S1: A huge part of a founder's job is to basically focus on their problem and be ruthless about cutting away distraction on things that you can't control. But what what is the biggest thing that keeps you up at night and worries you? [01:27:09] S0: I think just are we going fast enough? Because I think we have a really limited time window to do this. You know, it's impossible to say, but I believe that in the next few years, if we don't have some semblance of a drone industrial base, our military is, you know, significantly weakened, and then that in a scenario where, you know, China may invite... Invade Taiwan, or you know, now have a real pure adversary, that's where things get pretty concerning. So I think it's like a... It's a pretty limited time window. I've been asked like, it seems too late. Why are we even trying? Like, that's how some people look at the problem. [01:27:58] S1: And but I imagine that that's not like a helpful frame. Because if it is over, then that's not great.
01:27:58 · Ty Morse, Soren Monroe-Anderson
[01:27:58] S1: And but I imagine that that's not like a helpful frame. Because if it is over, then that's not great. [01:28:04] S0: Yeah. I I think, you know, America's come from... Come back from positions of weakness before. It's, I think largely a mindset and people problem. Like, how many great smart people can you get motivated to come and work on this? And now I think it's really important that we are public about what the problem is. So, you know, a lot of America is going about their daily lives not thinking about this stuff, like why is it a problem that America doesn't make stuff, you know, what what would happen if China invaded Taiwan? You know, this is like all these scenarios, and I I I again, I don't think that everyone should need to be thinking about them or or like working on building weapons, but there should be broad awareness of the problem before it becomes, you know, something on the level of a world war, like, then everyone's gonna be paying attention, but it's also far later than you wanna start solving these things. [01:29:06] S1: If you start, you know, when when the conflict actually happens, then we're we're not in a good position. Yeah. We don't have that capability. Yep. Like you kinda said, not everyone needs to be working on on weapon systems. I know from your and Soren... Or your and Olaf's background, it's kind of just perfect because you guys have this trend racing background. You used to be, like, one of the best run racers in the world, may still be, I'm not totally sure. [01:29:29] S0: Not at Depending
01:29:29 · Soren Monroe-Anderson, Ty Morse
[01:29:29] S0: Not at Depending [01:29:29] S1: on depending on how much you train. Yeah. Like, how how does it feel making this sort of technology? [01:29:36] S0: There is a big question about whether we wanted to do this before we started doing it. Like, you know, going and deciding to build lethal systems is a very significant decision and something that Olaf and I talked a lot about. To me, I've through my entire life believed that defense is very, very important, and, you know, that it is critical that America controls the most powerful defense systems versus, you know, our adversaries, and and so it's it feels like a fundamentally correct thing to be doing. But again, still a very intentional decision, sort of a decision that everyone needs to make on their own, but I I hope that more people become willing to do that because... It's one [01:30:30] S1: of these weird things where if no one does it, then you just fail. Yeah.
01:30:30 · Ty Morse, Soren Monroe-Anderson
[01:30:30] S1: of these weird things where if no one does it, then you just fail. Yeah. [01:30:36] S0: You you... Like, you can't just assume that other people are gonna do it. Like, a healthy society is one where there are many people willing to work on defense, but not that large of a percentage that has to. We should be in a position where we don't have to have a massive, you know, percent of our population doing this, but people actually get why it's important. And I think the get why it's important is what's slipped the most. And unfortunately, defense has become a bit of a political topic, and and, you know, there... There's, like, extreme political views that have that have elevated across, you know, it's just gotten worse and worse in America, like both sides kind of going to the extremes, and then within that, people wrapping up the idea of defense with these other ideologies and and sort of thinking it's like a a morally wrong thing to be to be doing. I think it's very important that people are able to voice their criticisms of the government and what the military is doing, but that driving decision that, you know, working on defense systems is somehow immoral is, I think Is dangerous. Dangerous. It's a Mayan virus. It's the it's it's not correct. And that that's an unfortunate reality that exists in the country today. So you sort of have like people who are vehemently opposed, you have people who are just not thinking about it, somewhat complacent, and those two percentage... Those two groups together are are too large of a percent of the population right now.
01:32:22 · Ty Morse, Soren Monroe-Anderson
[01:32:22] S1: Yeah. The way I think about it is you really want the the people that are building these types of systems to be, like, doing it for the right reasons. Mhmm. And I think, I don't know. I think you guys are. How do you think we as a nation sort of shift this mentality that we currently have where defense equals bad, thus, you know, we should do less of it when very clearly if you were not the military superpower, you don't stay in power? [01:32:49] S0: I think the most toxic point of view are the people in America who aren't pro America, so then they're not pro American defense. And that's a... An alarmingly large... Well, it's an alarmingly loud part of the population. It's probably not that large of a percentage, but that is a message that you can find very, very publicly, very clearly. So I'd say that's that's the that's the most dangerous one. I think logically, like, you know, if you're if you're looking at like politicians in DC, defense is a bipartisan issue. It's it's it's not, you know, it's generally very well supported on both sides of the aisle as it should be. It's the like very loud small pockets of the population that are, you know, distrustful of America or don't actually believe in what America stands for, why America exists. And, you know, it's not just in opposing defense, but I think that's the... That is the toxicity that drives a lot of it. [01:33:57] S1: What do you think... Like, in your own mind, what do you want America to stand for?
01:33:57 · Ty Morse, Soren Monroe-Anderson
[01:33:57] S1: What do you think... Like, in your own mind, what do you want America to stand for? [01:34:02] S0: A huge part of it is people being able to make their own decisions. And it's sort of an odd loop where people get to make their own decisions and, you know, have free speech, which is absolutely critical. And then you end up with the, you know, the folks who can sort of go down this path that have this this mindset of like, you know, the place that I live that enables me to have this freedom is, is bad for these ways. So maybe that's just fundamental to to America, like, maybe there will always be anti America people in America because we have such freedoms. Sort of a weird... [01:34:44] S1: Catch 22. [01:34:45] S0: Yeah. Catch 22. But, you know, America is is a place that values innovation. It values freedoms, it values democracy. It's not perfect, but I believe the world is fundamentally safer with America in the number one position. I think, you know, history supports that view, and I think we've, you know, America has contributed the most to humanity. Like, we have fostered such innovation and ability for people to go and just do things that we... We've driven humanity for the most. So as a, you know, person who really cares about technology, I think if you really care about technology, it's very hard to be anti America. [01:35:37] S1: I think a potentially good place to end it is how do you think that warfare is going to evolve over the next couple years, especially with the kinda, like, rapid change in technology?