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Katherine Bo remarked on the dramatic shift in the number of startups involved in defense, emphasizing that she counted about 50 venture-backed startups participating in the forum, a sharp increase from just a handful five or six years ago. The growing presence of companies such as Palantir and Anduril signifies a pivotal shift whereby defense is no longer considered a backwater in Silicon Valley. The enthusiasm surrounding defense has transformed it into a central theme within tech investment discussions.