The New Face Of Defense Tech — Ethan Thornton Of Mach Industries — Takes The Ai Stage At Techcrunch Disrupt 2025

Autonomous weapons, decentralized strategy, and startup velocity — this isn’t nan early of defense, it’s nan now. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Ethan Thornton, CEO and laminitis of Mach Industries, steps onto nan AI Stage to talk astir really next-gen defense is being built from nan crushed up pinch AI astatine its core.

Inside nan AI arms title — and nan laminitis aiming to rewrite it

Ethan Thornton isn’t your emblematic defense manufacture leader. As nan CEO and laminitis of Mach Industries, he launched nan institution retired of MIT successful 2023 pinch a bold mission: to build decentralized, next-generation defense technologies that tin safeguard state connected a world scale.

Now starring 1 of nan astir eager startups successful nan space, Thornton is bringing a caller position to an manufacture dominated by bequest players. His activity blends frontier hardware, software, and autonomy to rethink really nations take sides themselves successful a quickly changing world.

From startup laboratory to battlefield impact

Mach Industries is portion of a caller activity of companies proving that AI-native startups tin play a captious domiciled successful nationalist defense. This convention will unpack what that intends successful believe — from autonomous systems and separator computing to dual-use technologies that blur nan lines betwixt commercialized invention and subject capability.

Hear from Thornton connected navigating funding, regulation, and work astatine nan intersection of tech and geopolitics.

AI isn’t conscionable powering chatbots — it’s redefining world power

With world tensions rising and finance successful defense tech accelerating, this speech offers an urgent and timely look astatine really artificial intelligence is reshaping security, strategy, and sovereignty. Register now to prevention $675 earlier prices spell up adjacent week, and beryllium successful nan room pinch 10,000+ startup and VC leaders shaping nan adjacent era of innovation.