From VR to war: Palmer Luckey's shift to AI weapons
Palmer Luckey, the tech billionaire who founded Oculus, a virtual reality headset company in his teens, has now ventured into artificial intelligence (AI) weapons. After selling Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion, he established Anduril, an AI weapons company based south of Los Angeles. The 31-year-old entrepreneur's new venture produces AI intelligence weapons like drones and submarines that are being purchased by the Pentagon and sent to Ukraine among other countries.
Anduril's aims to revolutionize warfare by replacing troops with technology
Anduril's autonomous weapons are being sold to approximately 10 countries worldwide, with the ALTIUS drone as one of its standout products. "It's a drone that fires out of a tube into the air and then unfolds itself, extends its wings, extends its tail, unfolds the propeller and transforms itself into a small airplane," Luckey told NPR in an interview. The company aims to revolutionize warfare by reducing troop numbers in harm's way and increasing technology use in combat.
Anduril's involvement in Ukraine and ethical concerns
Anduril's involvement in Ukraine began shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. "Anduril has had hardware in Ukraine since the second week of the war. So we immediately got involved," Luckey said. However, critics argue that many new AI weapons still have flaws and have not yet performed as advertised. The use of autonomous weapons also raises ethical questions about accountability for civilian casualties.
Anduril's underwater AI weaponry and political neutrality
In addition to drones, Anduril has also ventured into underwater AI weaponry with its Dive-LD drone. "It's an autonomous underwater vehicle able to go very very long distances, dive to a depth of about 6,000 meters which is deep enough to go to the bottom of almost any ocean," Luckey explains. The company recently won a US Navy contract to build more than 200 of these underwater drones annually.
Luckey's business success amid political differences
Luckey's support for Donald Trump and his work with the military make him an iconoclastic figure in the largely liberal tech community. However, he maintains that his business will continue to thrive regardless of who is in office. "We made a lot of money under Trump. We made even more money under Biden. I think we're going to continue expanding whoever is in office next," said Luckey, indicating a strong future for Anduril irrespective of political leadership.
Anduril's challenge to traditional defense contractors
Luckey's approach with Anduril challenges traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics that build large-scale weapons designed to last decades. "I had this belief that the major defense companies didn't have the right talent or the right incentive structure to invest in things like artificial intelligence, autonomy, robotics," said Luckey. His company's focus on AI and autonomous weaponry represents a significant shift in the defense industry landscape.
