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Sharon Weinberger’s new book Valley of Death is getting attention this week because it does something simple but important: it names a problem nobody in Washington likes to admit. Big Tech and venture-backed defense startups are not just helping the Pentagon — they are reshaping how America fights wars. Weinberger’s media tour has put that shift on the front page, and conservatives should pay attention.
What the book says about Big Tech, AI, and the Pentagon
Weinberger lays out a clear claim: firms from Silicon Valley now control a lot of the hardware and software the U.S. military depends on. She points to SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril and new AI companies as examples. The book traces how projects like Project Maven and other Pentagon buy-ins pulled commercial AI, cloud systems, drones, and launch services into national security work. Her reporting asks blunt questions: if private companies design the tools of war, who answers when those tools fail?
The problem is not tech — it’s private control without accountability
Call me old-fashioned, but I think the people who vote for our leaders should not have their wars fought on platforms owned by a few venture funds and billionaires. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla; Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir; Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; and other executives are brilliant and driven. But Weinberger shows that brilliance plus private ownership creates a governance gap. When proprietary AI models and private satellites steer targeting or logistics, the public gets less oversight, not more. That is a red flag for national security and for democracy.
A conservative fix: modernize procurement, not privatize accountability
We should want rapid innovation — but not at the price of hiding crucial warfighting decisions behind trade secrets. Congress and the Pentagon can and must do three things at once: speed up buys that actually help troops, demand transparency into models and data used in targeting or surveillance, and write contracts that keep critical control in public hands. Yes, stop the “valley of death” that delays good gear. But do it with oversight clauses, audit rights, and clear lines of command so that a CEO can’t be the de facto minister of war because they own the code.
Conclusion: this book is a wake-up call — use it
Valley of Death is a useful warning. Weinberger’s reporting forces the question she says we should ask: who do you bring before Congress when an AI makes a catastrophic targeting error — the general or the startup CEO? Conservatives should welcome this fight. We like private enterprise, but not private empire. Fix procurement, require accountability, and let innovation serve the public interest — not the other way around. If Weinberger’s book sparks hearings and common-sense reforms, that will be the best kind of publicity.
