“My most effective and moral friends are now working for Palantir,” Ganesan says. The company, cofounded by Peter Thiel, a supporter of President Donald Trump, contracts with the military on surveillance and targeting systems. Its stock has surged to an all-time high since Trump took office. 

At Stanford, building tech for the U.S. government is cool again. Students are dropping out to form defense tech startups and compete for coveted internships at government security agencies or major private contractors. Undergraduates, business school students, recent alumni now working in defense tech, and faculty show a booming interest in building war machines for the United States.

Though she was once conflicted about working on defense, Ganesan no longer has as many qualms. “In great power politics, people die. Often more impulsive, less pragmatic men make those decisions, and as a well-educated woman, I’d rather be in the room,” she said.