Autonomous weapons, decentralized technique, and startup pace — this isn’t the way forward for protection, it’s the now. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Ethan Thornton, CEO and founding father of Mach Industries, steps onto the AI Stage to speak about how next-gen protection is being constructed from the bottom up with AI at its core.
Contained in the AI arms race — and the founder aiming to rewrite it
Ethan Thornton isn’t your typical protection business chief. Because the CEO and founding father of Mach Industries, he launched the corporate out of MIT in 2023 with a daring mission: to construct decentralized, next-generation protection applied sciences that may safeguard freedom on a world scale.
Now main one of the crucial formidable startups within the house, Thornton is bringing a contemporary perspective to an business dominated by legacy gamers. His work blends frontier {hardware}, software program, and autonomy to rethink how nations defend themselves in a quickly altering world.
From startup lab to battlefield affect
Mach Industries is a part of a brand new wave of corporations proving that AI-native startups can play a vital position in nationwide protection. This session will unpack what which means in follow — from autonomous programs and edge computing to dual-use applied sciences that blur the strains between industrial innovation and army functionality.
Hear from Thornton on navigating funding, regulation, and duty on the intersection of tech and geopolitics.
AI isn’t simply powering chatbots — it’s redefining international energy
With international tensions rising and funding in protection tech accelerating, this dialog affords an pressing and well timed have a look at how synthetic intelligence is reshaping safety, technique, and sovereignty. Register now to save lots of as much as $675 earlier than costs go up subsequent week, and be within the room with 10,000+ startup and VC leaders shaping the subsequent period of innovation.
