Silicon and Statecraft: Tech, Venture Capital, and the National Interest
Chris Inglis, Mitch Herckis, Matthew Cronin
RSA Conference 2025 · Day 1 · Policy
The United States has entered a new era of deep collaboration between the private sector and the federal government — one with clear historical precedent in World War II and the Space Race, and clear urgency in the face of China's comprehensive national power advantage. At RSA 2025, former National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Andreessen Horowitz senior national security advisor Matthew Cronin argued that this partnership is not optional, that Silicon Valley's long-standing instinct to keep its distance from Washington has become a liability, and that the model for success already exists — it just needs to be rebuilt for the digital age. ---
AI review
Inglis and Cronin make the historical case for public-private cyber collaboration with genuine intellectual depth — the William Knudsen parallel is not a rhetorical trick, it's an accurate account of how the U.S. has mobilized private industrial capacity in past crises. The Volt Typhoon threat framing is credible because both speakers understand the actual intelligence. Strong content held back by a slightly unfocused second half that drifts into VC portfolio philosophy.