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Anduril Industries

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki




Anduril Industries
Private
ISIN🆔
Founded 📆2017; 8 years ago (2017)
Founder 👔
Area served 🗺️
Key people
Members
Number of employees
501-1000 (2022)
🌐 Websitewww.anduril.com
📇 Address
📞 telephone

Anduril Industries is an American defense company specializing in autonomous systems. It was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey alongside investors and founders associated with Palantir.[1] Anduril's strategy includes providing the US Department of Defense with technology that Silicon Valley firms have eschewed due to their controversial military applications, including Artificial Intelligence and robotics. Anduril's major products include unmanned aerial systems (UAS), counter-UAS (CUAS), semi-portable autonomous surveillance systems, and networked command and control software. Similarly to Palantir, the company's name is derived from The Lord of the Rings; Andúril is the sword of Aragorn dubbed "The Flame of the West."

Background[edit]

The Pentagon has been shifting from counter-terrorism efforts to geopolitical issues, particularly concerning rivals like Russia, China, and Iran; China, in particular, has spent a considerable amount of resources developing artificial intelligence and 5G capabilities.[2]

Joshua Brustein of Bloomberg Businessweek credits Palantir Technologies for helping usher in more open government relations with startups for military contracts: "Palantir sued the U.S. Army in 2016 for refusing to consider it for a large intelligence contract. It won the case and, this March, landed the contract itself, which could be worth as much as $800 million."[3] At the same time, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter took measures in 2015 to increase government-business relations with "what Pentagon bureaucrats call "nontraditionals."[3]

History[edit]

Name[edit]

Anduril Industries is named after Andúril, the sword of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings.[4] Anduril is dubbed "the flame of the West"[5]

Pre-founding (investor meetups)[edit]

Palmer Luckey in 2019
Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey created the Oculus Rift, the first consumer virtual reality headset

In June 2014, Palmer Luckey attended a retreat on Sonora Island, British Columbia, hosted by Founders Fund, an early Oculus investor.[6] Luckey met Trae Stephens, a 30-year-old employee at the Fund. Stephens joined the Fund in 2014, leaving his previous employer Palantir, convinced by the Fund's leader, Peter Thiel.[6] "Stephens found it ridiculous that almost no venture-backed companies worked closely with the government; with its billions of dollars to spend", aside from Palantir and SpaceX. The Fund was also an early SpaceX investor; "Stephens' goal was to fund a company to join that duo", but found it difficult to accomplish in Silicon Valley.[6]

2014 meetup: Luckey & Stephens "bonded over an interest in reshaping defense contracting using the incentives and structures of the tech startup scene." [7] DOD and DHS opened Silicon Valley offices in 2015; "In 2017, as part of an initiative that had begun the previous year, the Defense Department also unveiled the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, known as Project Maven, to harness the latest artificial intelligence research into battlefield technology, starting with a project to improve image recognition for drones operating in the Middle East."[7] The Intercept says this environment "provided a unique entry point for Anduril"; Luckey credits people like Raj Shah for enabling commercial/military relations like this[7]

The idea for a software startup focused on "high-tech" military applications was raised by Anduril chairman Trae Stephens and some of his colleagues at Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company founded by Peter Thiel in 2004.[3] ("helps collect and analyze data for the government")[8] Following the 2016 presidential election, Stephens "was appointed to the Defense transition team" and "later joined the Defense Innovation Board, a central part of Carter's reform effort."[3] Stephens, who was also looking for a defense startup Founders Fund could invest in, began to recruit employees for Anduril alongside Palmer Luckey, who was looking to make use of the money he obtained from selling Oculus VR to Facebook in 2014 for $2B.[3] Luckey had been involved in a political controversy shortly before the 2016 election and left Facebook in March 2017, alleging he had been fired for his pro-Trump beliefs (Facebook denies this).[3] (WSJ also reported similar stuff in Facebook high management)[9] Stephens and Luckey recruited employees from Palantir and Oculus, and planned to employ Luckey's developmental approach with the Oculus headset: "combine low-cost, widely available components with sophisticated software."[3] Luckey thought this would be easy because he thought "the defense industry has been stagnant for decades."[3]

The company was founded by Palmer Luckey, the creator of the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, and several former employees at Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company which contracts with intelligence agencies,[1] including CEO Brian Schimpf (Palantir was also backed by Founders Fund).[5] It is backed by the technology investor Peter Thiel.[1] "Luckey started Anduril after he was ousted from Facebook in 2017 amid controversy tied to his political beliefs and contributions to far-right groups and internet trolls."[10] Founded in 2017[5] Incorporated in June 2017[11] Seed funding provided by Founders Fund[8]

At least four figures initially founded Anduril: Trae Stephens, Palmer Luckey, Matt Grimm, and Joe Chen. [6] Brian Singerman led a seed funding round. [6] Luckey, Stephens, and Grimm pitched their company to the directors of Palantir; one of them, Brian Schimpf, decided to join, and became the fifth cofounder."[6] (Schimpf: CEO, Grimm: COO, Luckey: CTO)[6]

June 2017: Anduril execs contact DHS California office, expressing interest in providing low-cost wide-ranging border security; DHS introduced them to border officials. San Diego CBP office eventually selected Anduril to pilot test a new border system.[6]

In a June 2018 article, Steven Levy of WIRED reported that Lattice surveillance towers were being informally tested on a Texas rancher's private land.[6] Lattice was operated remotely by an Anduril technician[6]

June 2019: news outlet Naval Technology reported that UK Royal Navy partnering with Anduril to use Lattice as part of a modernization initiative;[12] The Verge hypothesized that lattice would be used for more than surveillance, and more as a data platform to unify data access to ground troops.[13]

According to a Oct 2019 report by NBC, the advocacy group Mijente discovered a $13.5M Marine Corps contract "to install Anduril systems at military bases in Japan and the United States, including one that abuts the U.S.-Mexico border."[5] Anduril also has a contract with the U.K. Royal Marines.[5]

In May 2020, Anduril announced an expansion office in Seattle, Washington.[14]

In July 2020, CBP paid $25M to Anduril for some surveillance towers; in September 2020, Anduril received $36M from CBP for its surveillance towers.[15] CBP plans to install 200 Anduril towers total by 2022.[15] CBP had worked some pilot programs with Anduril in Texas and San Diego beginning in 2018; in 2019, more towers were installed in CBP's San Diego sector, CBP ordered more for Texas & started a new pilot program at Montana & Vermont border sites for a cold-weather tower variant.[16]

In July 2020, CBP and Anduril entered a five-year contract to deploy sentry towers. [17] [18] [19]

According to reporting by The Intercept, Google would be using their Google Cloud technology to help AI implementations by CBP's Innovation Team; it would be "used in conjunction with" technology employed by Anduril.[20]

In February 2021, The Times reported that the Royal Marines had been testing the Ghost drone for frontline use to provide video of targets.[21]

In July 2021, the BBC reported that the Royal Navy had used Ghost drones in an autonomous drone test to provide live feeds of targets.[22]

In April 2021, Anduril acquired Area-I, a drone company "known for small drones that can be launched from a larger aircraft." Area-I had previously contracted for U.S. government agencies like the Army, Air Force, Navy, and NASA.[23] Area-I was an Atlanta-based technology startup which developed surveillance drones for government clients; it was founded by aerospace researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and had "funded its operations primarily through government contracts and technology development programs meant for small businesses".[24] The acquisition deal (an undisclosed amount) will result in Area-I operating as an independent subsidiary; founder Nick Alley said "this arrangement would allow his company to continue to operate like a tech start-up as opposed to the research unit of a larger company."[24]

Products[edit]

Altius[edit]

Anduril/Area-I ALTIUS-600 Tube-Launched Unmanned Aerial System in flight

The Altius is a series of fixed-wing, tube-launched unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Area-I, an Atlanta-based subsidiary of Anduril acquired in April 2021. ALTIUS stands for Agile/Air-Launched, Tube-Integrated Unmanned System, and there are at least 4 variants, including the -500, -600, -700, and -900, with the numbers corresponding to diameter in inches. The Altius 600 is designed to accept a modular payload on the nose, and can be launched from numerous different launchers, including the Common Launch Tube (CLT) present on C-130 aircraft, the Pneumatically Integrated Launch System (PILS) on UH-60 Blackhawks and ground vehicles, and launchers on larger mothership UAVs, including the MQ-1C Grey Eagle and Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie stealth UCAV.

The Altius is a component of the US Army's Air-Launched Effects (ALE), and swarms of them can operate together in a mesh network.[25][26] The Altius is designed to be low-cost and expendable, but can be recovered mid-flight with Flying Air Recovery System (FLARES).[27]

Anvil[edit]

The Anvil (also known as the Interceptor[lower-alpha 1]) is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle designed to eliminate other drones.[28] When launched, the Anvil autonomously locates another drone using computer vision;[29] if given an attack order by its operator,[3] the Anvil physically rams the target drone to destroy it.[29] The drone can reportedly reach speeds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h); Anduril is also developing versions to attack larger targets like helicopters or cruise missiles.[3] The Anvil can be integrated into Anduril's Lattice system.[18]

Some Anduril employees, including Luckey, came up with the Anvil while at the office on a weekend in 2019; their original plan was to develop a drone that could identify a hostile object in its designated airspace using computer vision, and automatically ram it.[3] After sending a video to some of their contacts at the Pentagon of a working prototype, the U.S. military requested a small order for testing.[3] Anduril announced the drone's release on October 3, 2019.[31]

As of 2019, Anduril has produced the Anvil for the United States and United Kingdom militaries; Bloomberg Businessweek reported in October 2019 that the company had been contracted to deploy the drone to overseas combat zones.[3] Anduril also plans to market the drone to commercial oil and gas companies so they can police "large, wide-open spaces."[3]

Dive-LD[edit]

The Dive-LD is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) designed by Boston-based Dive Technologies, which was acquired by Anduril in February 2022.[32] It is intended for use in littoral and deep-water survey, inspection, and ISR.[33] The Dive-LD is produced in part by a 3D printing technique called Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM).

In May 2022, Anduril announced that the Royal Australian Navy signed a $100m contract to develop and build 3 Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs).[34]

Dust[edit]

The Dust is a small 4-pound (1.8 kg) ground-based sensor designed to detect people and objects in areas with limited line of sight, such as small corridors that nearby Sentry Towers cannot observe. The Dust can be powered by battery and operate for up to 2 months, or by solar panel and operate indefinitely.[35]

Ghost[edit]

The Ghost is an unmanned aerial vehicle.[lower-alpha 2] The drone is named "Ghost" because of its reportedly quiet acoustic signature and difficulty in being detected.[21] The latest iteration is Ghost 4; Ghosts 1, 2, and 3 have been used in military operations, but information about them has not been publicly released.[4]

The Ghost 4 was announced by Anduril on September 10, 2020.[36] Constructed using metal alloys and carbon fiber composites,[21] it utilizes a traditional single-rotor helicopter design, which Luckey asserts is superior to multirotor or quadcopter drones due to reduced noise and increased efficiency and maximum payload.[4] The drone measures 8 feet 11.3 inches (2.725 m) long when fully assembled, and 3 feet 6.2 inches (1.072 m) when collapsed;[37] it can be transported inside a backpack.[21] Anduril also claims that the Ghost 4 can fly for up to 100 minutes with a maximum cruising speed of 52 knots (60 mph; 96 km/h) and can carry a 35-pound (16 kg) payload, and can be recharged in 35 minutes.[4][38] The drone can be remotely or autonomously piloted.[4] Machine learning and computer vision algorithms are used to identify and track targets,[1][21][38] while the drone can upload data to Anduril's Lattice system.[4] The drone uses Nvidia processing units originally designed for self-driving cars.[38] The drone was designed to use on-board processing chips due to bandwidth limitations for communication links, and to enable radio silence by operating Ghosts who can process imagery on their own without the need for a centralized analysis system that requires communication.[38] An onboard camera provides a live feed for operators on the ground;[21] Luckey claims it can track and image (in high-resolution) objects up to 2,520 feet (770 m) away.[lower-alpha 3] The Ghost can perform multiple roles due to its five modular payload bays,[38] such as utilizing laser weapons or detecting and tracking cruise missiles;[4] Anduril claims that payloads can be swapped out within a matter of minutes.[38] Multiple Ghosts can reportedly link up with each other using a conventional rules-based system to form a 'swarm' to relay data amongst themselves to increase effective range to a Lattice station.[1] The Ghost 4 is 'ruggedized' to increase its weatherproofing;[4][38] its rotor system was 'overhauled' compared to Ghost 3.[38]

Users of previous Ghost iterations include the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection;[4] the United States Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defence have used the Ghost 3.[38] The Royal Navy has tested the Ghost for use on the frontline.[21]

Lattice[edit]

A picture of Lattice's interface
Lattice at a 2020 field test of the Advanced Battle Management System

Lattice is a software platform[5][4] that can use artificial intelligence[17] to classify objects by ingesting and fusing data from disparate sensors, including from Anduril's own platforms[4][5][29] and those of third parties.[39] Lattice has been used to control Anduril equipment for national border and military base surveillance.[39][5]

Anduril demonstrated Lattice in a September 2020 military exercise simulating shooting down Russian cruise missiles in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico as part of the United States Air Force's "Advanced Battle Management System" program, which "aims to better connect military systems using cloud computing and wireless links" to improve command response time by reducing delays in relaying observation data.[39] During that exercise, Lattice ingested data from Air Force systems and missile detection towers to track potential missiles and alert its users to them; the system "displayed a 3D map of White Sands Missile Range with aircraft and other objects highlighted" in a virtual reality headset from Oculus.[39] Users could tag the missile as hostile, and Lattice would show a menu of potential response options.[39]

Military clients access the system using a laptop or phone; Luckey has claimed that future versions of Lattice will also be accessed using augmented reality headsets.[4]

GeekWire calls Lattice "a border monitoring system that relies on sensor-equipped sentry towers"[14]

Sentry towers "feed an artificial-intelligence system capable of distinguishing among animals, humans and vehicles, sending location and mapping information right to the cellphones of U.S. patrol agents."[17] "Steckman said the Lattice system is not built to capture personal information, only categories of moving objects. “We know at a distance whether it’s a person, it’s a cow, it’s a vehicle, it’s an aircraft, it’s a ship,” Steckman said. “We don’t know anything below that level, but for border security, especially in rural locations, that’s enough to make a decision.”"[17]

Sentry Tower[edit]

The Sentry Tower is a 33-foot (10 m) tall[40] solar-powered portable surveillance tower.[2][17] The Sentry contains a camera, communications antennae, radar, and thermal imaging equipment.[17][6][41] The tower operates autonomously,[41] and feeds data back into Anduril's Lattice system, which can classify moving[17] objects and targets in the imagery.[18][42] When disassembled, the Sentry can fit into a pickup truck, and can reportedly be re-assembled in under an hour.[6] The CBP says agents can set up individual systems at the border in under 2 hours.[17] The Sentry Tower and associated systems such as Lattice have been referred to as a "virtual border wall"[43][42][44] or "smart wall."[45][46]

The U.S. government has been looking for electronics-based border security since the 1990s; they spent $429M on two unsuccessful development programs from 1997 to 2005.[45] A third program named SBInet and run by DHS started in the mid-2000s with the goal of creating "a comprehensive border wall"; Boeing won a contract for the program in September 2006 for an estimated $7.6B.[6] The system was initially rolled out along the Arizona border, "but expansion was halted in 2010 due to serious concerns with its feasibility."[45] Plagued with cost overruns, missed deadlines, and technology issues (using off-the-shelf components instead of custom-made), the program was canceled in 2011 "at a price tag of more than $1 billion."[45] Alan Bersin (2010-2011 CBP commissioner) says the fault was partly pursuing a 'one-size-fits-all' approach; nowadays border technology systems are individually implemented for their localized requirements.[45] Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems has since developed camera towers "but its equipment is more expensive and less mobile than Anduril's"; the Sentry tower's smaller footprint also alleviated land-use conflicts "when the company requests access to tribal land, private property and environmentally sensitive areas."[6]

After founding Anduril, the company needed a saleable product (a "quick win", implying not something very complicated).[6] The company's pitch deck to its initial investors had included 'perimeter security on a pole'; while Stephens was interested in developing the product for forward operating bases, Luckey thought it could be useable as border security for the U.S.-Mexico border.[6] Some Anduril executives contacted a DHS office in California in June 2017, who put them in contact with a "border patrol team near San Diego".[6] "Within a couple of months, Anduril had a prototype."[6] Schimpf and some Anduril employees took the prototype to "a test range in Apple Valley, a two-hour drive from their Orange County office."[6] They trained software on open-source machine learning training datasets to identify and distinguish humans from other objects in the imagery.[6]

But Luckey had an idea: Sync a laser beam to a virtual shutter, similar to flash photography. “We shoot a flash beam way, way, way out to where you are,” Luckey says. “It lights up you and the area around you, and then we’re able to pick that up with our electro-optical sensor.” Anduril discovered it could cheaply repurpose the laser, which it bought in bulk, originally meant for a 600-watt cosmetic hair-removal device.[6]

One problem they encountered was that their hardware was unable to image "distant moving objects at night" (the goal of the project was to partner consumer-grade hardware with AI; Schimpf says this approach helps Anduril " avoid the expensive zoom lenses and thermal sensors used in competing systems" with taller towers and more sophisticated hardware).[6] Luckey came up with the idea to repurpose a laser from a 600W hair removal device to create a pseudo-flash photograph: the laser would light up the object, and a virtually implemented shutter would help the tower image the object with its electro-optical sensor.[6] (This was a cheaper alternative to using a thermal camera, which costs "hundreds of thousands of dollars and fare poorly in the wind and dirt of the Texas border.")[6] Stephens called U.S. representative Will Hurd (R-TX);[47] who helped arrange an informal test of three towers in early 2018 on a Texas rancher's land near the border.[6] The towers (WIRED says Lattice here) led to 55 persons caught and 982 lbs of marijuana seized within 10 weeks of installation; an official test [mid-2018; "ongoing at press time"] outside San Diego led to 10 interceptions within 12 days of installation.[6]

Anduril has received a number of contracts from U.S. agencies to install Sentry towers:

  • CBP: started in early 2018 with 4 towers for a pilot in San Diego County,[40] (CBP's San Diego Sector[48]) expanded pilot to 14[49] (pilot ended in mid-2019[49] or June 2020[18]); had 60 in operation in June 2020, plans to expand to 200 towers by FY 2022[18]
    • mid-2019 [reported August 2019 as "recently"]: bought 18 towers for Texas (not a pilot program)[49]
    • 2019: pilot program in Montana/Vermont for "cold-weather tower variant"[16]
    • Mijente disclosure (in July 2019, i think): undated CBP contract for $4.8M for "border surveillance equipment" (includes towers)[50]
    • In July 2020, CBP paid $25M to Anduril for some surveillance towers; in September 2020, Anduril received $36M from CBP for its surveillance towers.[15]
      • ""The CBP [five-year] contract announced Thursday [July 2, 2020] designates the Anduril system as a “program of record,” meaning a technology so essential it will be a dedicated item in the homeland security budget. While it does not specify a dollar amount, Anduril executives said the agreement is worth several hundred million dollars."[17]
  • July 15, 2019: $13.5M contract with US Marine Corps for Lattice/towers @ 4 bases: "Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinanawa, Japan; the Marine Corps Base Hawaii on the island of Oahu; the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona; and the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan"[50]
    • Surveillance 'capability as a service': Anduril ships, installs, & maintains infrastructure, trains govt personnel to use system[50]
    • "It’s supposed to be fully phased in by September 20th and run for a one-year period with an option to extend."[50]
  • July 2020: DHS contract "to expand its [unclear if it's DHS's or Anduril's] virtual border wall program" ('sensor towers' + 'lightweight drones' along US-MX border); worth up to $250M[51]

Sentry (firefighting vehicle)[edit]

The Sentry is a proposed autonomous firefighting vehicle which would repurpose an armored personnel carrier to carry water instead.[6] The vehicle was developed in a warehouse in Oakland, California by special effects expert and former MythBusters co-host Jamie Hyneman, who was employed as a subcontractor of Anduril.[6]

Military programs[edit]

Advanced Battle Management System / Joint All-Domain Command & Control[edit]

Luckey announced on September 24, 2020 that Anduril had been awarded a U.S. Air Force contract to help develop the "Advanced Battle Management System" (ABMS) alongside more than 50 companies[16] with a potential ceiling of $950M in funding.[52][53] ABMS is a digital architecture system (battlefield management system) designed to connect data across a variety of sources and weapons,[54] including "jets, drones, ships and soldiers"[55] The task is difficult due to the lack of data interoperability designed into the various sources; for example, the F-22 and F-35 "use two different tactical datalink languages"[55] ABMS is part of Pentagon's "Joint All-Domain Command & Control" (JADC2) which aims to completely network all military assets (ground, air, sea, space, cyber)[16] into a single data-sharing infrastructure to unify data usage; "ABMS is a massive project made up of smaller projects that bear fruit incrementally."[54]

Project Maven[edit]

In March 2019, The Intercept reported that Anduril had won a contract with the Pentagon under Project Maven, "the secretive initiative to rapidly leverage artificial intelligence technology from the private sector for military purposes."[7] According to the news agency, documents reviewed by them showed that Anduril had been working with the project since 2018, "along with efforts to support the Defense Department's newly formed Joint Artificial Intelligence Center."[7]

Corporate affairs[edit]

Development ethos[edit]

Founder Palmer Luckey "aims to marry the disruptive ethos of today's high-tech startups with the old-school defense business. That means bringing artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, robotics and sensor fusion to an organization historically more focused on tanks, battleships and fighter jets."[4] "Luckey says if the US doesn't modernize the military, the country will fall behind "strategic adversaries," such as Russia and China. "I don't think we can win an AI arms race by thinking it's not going to happen," he said."[4]

According to WIRED, Anduril uses Silicon Valley-style development schemes, pre-emptively developing products for potential military markets "instead of waiting for direction from the Pentagon."[1] The company "also looks to militarize consumer technologies such as AI and VR, and to develop prototypes more quickly and cheaply."[1]

TechCrunch reported in 2017 when Anduril was founded that the company's website implied they were looking to implement AR/VR solutions for military applications.[11]

Military relations[edit]

Some employees of prominent technology companies have publicly opposed their employers' contracts with military clients, including Google and Microsoft.[4] Considerable controversy around AI ethics by researchers, some seek autonomous weapons bans; tangible impacts (e.g. June 2018 Google back out of AI contract with Air Force)[1] (Pentagon has introduced some AI ethics guidelines)[39] "Luckey is jumping into a market for defense contracts that employees at some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are rejecting." (Google, Salesforce, Microsoft employee protests)[43]

According to Anduril's chairiman, Trae Stephens, the company is upfront about its military connections and weapons development, unlike other technology companies which seek to downplay their military involvement.[3] "The company and its founders are unapologetic about its mission, making it an outlier in the U.S. technology industry. Militarization of technology has recently become a sensitive subject at the world’s largest tech firms... Anduril is different. Its coders and engineers are openly interested in providing surveillance systems to the U.S. military."[5]

Investor Peter Thiel (who backed Anduril) "has argued that tech companies have some patriotic duty to work with the U.S. government, and not with its rivals... Luckey appears to share a similar worldview, stressing that China’s AI development — and its willingness to sell its technology to countries around the world — is a new arms race that the U.S. is losing."[5] Luckey has said he trusts the U.S. government and military to obey their ethical guidelines: 'I'm not that concerned because I think the United States does have a really good reflex on these types of things', "said that he doesn’t feel that his company should be in the business of denying its work to any particular government agency based on political or ethical beliefs... And Luckey also warned that failing to develop responsible technologies leaves the door open for governments around the world to fall back on technology from other countries that may not be as ethically sound. In the end, he said he doesn’t believe it’s his job to create new ethical standards to go along with new technology."[5]

Funding[edit]

In a September 2019 funding round, Anduril secured US$120,000,000 in funding from various venture capital firms, including Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz; according to investors, the company was valued at over US$1,000,000,000 at the time, a four-fold increase from its 2018 valuation.[3] (NBC Oct 2019 also reports 8VC and Lux Capital invested)[5] As of October 2019, Anduril makes 1x CBP, 2x military revenue.[3]

On July 1, 2020, The Washington Post reported that Anduril received US$200,000,000 in funding from venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund for U.S. military projects.[2] A company representative said the company's valuation increased to US$2,000,000,000.[2] WaPo also reported that Anduril has received around US$28,000,000 for unclassified contracts, "a pittance for all but the smallest defense contractors." [excluding classified contracts][2] "Anduril says its annual revenue [July 2020] is tracking in the range of $100 million, and it’s certainly won a fair amount of DoD money impressively quickly – roughly $60 million in contracts are listed in a federal database, including a $13.5 million one awarded last year to provide perimeter surveillance systems for four U.S. Marine Corps bases. Documents obtained by the immigrant advocacy group Mijente show that the Marines awarded it without competition, stating, “Anduril is the only known vendor with a fully integrated system at the appropriate technology readiness level (TRL) to fulfill the requirement.” But observers say that may be less an endorsement of Anduril’s technology than a sign of DoD’s willingness to to try out many different solutions under emergency spending authorizations to meet a pressing security need. The DoD spent upward of $900 million on counter-drone systems in 2019."[18]

On July 1, 2020, Anduril announced they had received $200M in Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.[18]

On June 17, 2021, Anduril announced they had obtained $450M in Series D funding from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and D1 Capital Partners; according to the company, this increased their valuation to $4.6B, double their valuation in July 2020.[56] The funding round was led by "angel investor and serial entrepreneur" Elad Gil.[23]

Political affiliations[edit]

Anduril helped provide data/analysis for Rep. Will Hurd to introduce the "Secure Miles with All Resources and Technology Act" bill in 2017 house session, which would fund the development of surveillance equipment to monitor the US-Mexico border.[46]

Locations[edit]

Anduril is currently headquartered in Irvine, California, with satellite offices in Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and London;[51] the company plans to relocate its headquarters to [nearby] Costa Mesa in 2022.[lower-alpha 4] The company chose to base themselves initially in Irvine due to its proximity to military bases and to distance themselves from Silicon Valley, which has been more cautious about working for the military.[8] According to co-founder and COO Matt Grimm, Anduril's work requires in-person interaction due to the necessities of using industrial equipment to build their products, security requirements for classified contracts, and in-person demonstrations for potential clients; this is contrasted against many companies which have begun transitioning to remote-office work.[51]

In July 2018, Anduril leased a 155,000 sq ft (14,400 m2) building next to John Wayne Airport, near Irvine; the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that the lease was the largest in Orange County that year as of July.[57] Anduril leased a 640,000 sq ft (59,000 m2) campus in Costa Mesa, California, in February 2021.[51] Called "the Press" by the company, the new corporate campus was originally home to the Orange County bureau and printing press of the Los Angeles Times starting in 1968;[51] the owner of the Times sold the site in 2017.[lower-alpha 5] Due to its original newspaper use, the Press contains a rail line and a gas station; the rail line will be converted to a company park and the gas station into a coffee shop.[51] The existing complex is 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2); an additional 190,000 sq ft (18,000 m2) expansion west of the complex will serve as Anduril's research and development hub and a parking garage.[51] Two floors will be added inside part of the existing complex; the entire redesign will cost US$200,000,000.[51] As of February 2021, 144,000 sq ft (13,400 m2) of the complex is available for use, while the new expansion will be completed by Q3 2022.[51] Anduril plans to fully move into its Costa Mesa location in 2022.[lower-alpha 4] The lease is the largest in Costa Mesa's history and the largest in Orange County's last 15 years (by size).[51]

The relocation is expected to boost Costa Mesa's economy, whose government has struggled with budget shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[58]

The company also operates a testing range near Camp Pendleton.[8]

Employment[edit]

In June 2019, Anduril had around 90 employees.[59] The company had around 130 employees in October 2019;[3] around 400 employees were at its headquarters (plus satellite offices) by February 2021.[51] [info about oculus/palantir recruitment] In February 2021, The Times reported that Anduril had been recruiting former UK military personnel.[21]

Criticism and controversies[edit]

Anduril has been called "Tech's Most Controversial Startup."[3] Autonomous weapons have been considered controversial in Silicon Valley, but Anduril aggressively courts business from the government and military.[8]

Anduril provides autonomous sentry towers used by US Customs and Border Patrol to surveil the southern US border, and the use of its products by the CBP has been criticized by immigration activists.[50][3][40] However, its products have also been billed as part of a "Smart Wall", a more sustainable and economical alternative to a fixed border wall.[17][45][60]


See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Anduril's drone has been referred to as the Anvil[14][23][18][28] or the Interceptor.[3][10][5][29] Anduril refers to the drone as the Anvil on their website.[30]
  2. ↑ Anduril calls the Ghost a "small unmanned aircraft system" (sUAS).[36]
  3. ↑ Luckey claims that the Ghost "could track an object and capture detailed images from seven football fields away."[8] One football field is 360 feet (110 m) long, so seven football fields are 2,520 feet (770 m) long in total.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 In a February 2021 article in the Los Angeles Times, "Grimm said that the company plans to move from its current office in Irvine in 18 to 22 months", which is between August and December 2022.[51]
  5. ↑ Tribune Real Estate Holdings (a subsidiary of Tribune Media, the former owner of the Los Angeles Times) and Kearney Real Estate sold the site to the firms SteelWave and Invesco in 2017 for US$65,000,000.[51]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Knight, Will (September 10, 2020). "Anduril's New Drone Offers to Inject More AI Into Warfare". WIRED. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Gregg, Aaron (July 1, 2020). "Silicon Valley tech start-up Anduril raises $200 million to create a software-driven Defense Dept. contractor". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Brustein, Joshua (October 3, 2019). "Tech's Most Controversial Startup Now Makes Drone-Killing Robots". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Shankland, Stephen (September 10, 2020). "Oculus founder's Ghost 4 military drones use AI for surveillance and attack". CNET. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 Ward, Jacob; Sottile, Chiara (October 3, 2019). "Inside Anduril, the startup that is building AI-powered military technology". NBC News. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 Levy, Steven (June 11, 2018). "Inside Palmer Luckey's Bid to Build a Border Wall". WIRED. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Fang, Lee (March 9, 2019). "Defense Tech Startup Founded by Trump's Most Prominent Silicon Valley Supporters Wins Secretive Military AI Contract". The Intercept. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Metz, Cade (February 26, 2021). "Away From Silicon Valley, the Military Is the Ideal Customer". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  9. ↑ Grind, Kirsten; Keach, Hagey (November 11, 2018). "Why Did Facebook Fire a Top Executive? Hint: It Had Something to Do With Trump". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Palmer, Annie (October 3, 2019). "Oculus founder Palmer Luckey's defense start-up is now making attack drones". CNBC. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hatmaker, Taylor (October 19, 2017). "Palmer Luckey's new defense company Anduril looks interested in AR and VR on the battlefield". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  12. ↑ Kumar, Hemanth; Husseini, Talal (June 12, 2019). "Royal Navy partners with Anduril for Royal Marines' modernisation". Naval Technology. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  13. ↑ Liptak, Andrew (June 13, 2019). "Palmer Luckey's defense firm is partnering with the UK's Royal Marines". The Verge. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Boyle, Alan (May 12, 2020). "Anduril Industries expands to Seattle, seeks engineers to work on defense tech". GeekWire. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Hatmaker, Taylor (September 10, 2020). "Anduril launches a smarter drone and picks up more money to build a virtual border wall". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Hatmaker, Taylor (September 24, 2020). "Anduril among companies tapped to build the Air Force's 'internet of things' for war". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 Miroff, Nick (July 2, 2020). "Trump administration hires tech firm to build a virtual border wall, an idea Democrats have praised". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 Bogaisky, Jeremy (July 1, 2020). "Anduril Raises $200 Million To Fund Ambitious Plans To Build A Defense Tech Giant". Forbes. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  19. ↑ Chen, I-Chun (July 2, 2020). "Anduril Industries gets contract to install AI surveillance systems along the border". L.A. Biz. American City Business Journals. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  20. ↑ Fang, Lee; Biddle, Sam (October 21, 2020). "Google AI Tech Will Be Used for Virtual Border Wall, CBP Contract Shows". The Intercept. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 Brown, Larisa (February 20, 2021). "Ghost drone lets troops see without being heard". The Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Royal Navy tests drones above and below waves". BBC News. July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Hatmaker, Taylor (June 17, 2021). "Anduril raises $450M as the defense tech company's valuation soars to $4.6B". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Gregg, Aaron (April 3, 2021). "Defense-tech company Anduril buys Area-I, a manufacturer of tube-launched drones". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  25. ↑ Parsons, Dan (22 April 2022). "Army To Test Its Biggest Interactive Drone Swarm Ever Over Utah". The Drive. The Drive. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  26. ↑ Roque, Ashley (29 September 2020). "Unmanned-Unmanned teaming: US Army demos Area-I's Altius-600 air-launched effects". Janes.com. Janes. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  27. ↑ Reim, Garrett. "US Army catches 'air-launched effect' drones in mid-air using another UAV". Flight Global. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Brandom, Russell (October 4, 2019). "Watch Anduril's Anvil take down an off-the-shelf drone in midflight". The Verge. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Brandom, Russell (October 3, 2019). "Palmer Luckey is making battering-ram drones now". The Verge. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Anduril - Our Work". Anduril Industries. Retrieved July 30, 2021. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  31. ↑ Anduril Industries (October 3, 2019). "Anduril Industries Announces Release of Counter-Drone System". PR Newswire. Retrieved July 26, 2021. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  32. ↑ "Anduril Industries Acquires Dive Technologies". Naval News. Naval News. Anduril Industries. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  33. ↑ "Anduril — Dive-LD". www.anduril.com. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  34. ↑ Clark, Colin (6 May 2022). "Anduril bets it can build 3 large autonomous subs for Aussies in 3 years". Breaking Defense. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  35. ↑ "Anduril — Dust". www.anduril.com. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Anduril Industries (September 10, 2020). "Anduril Introduces Ghost 4". Medium. Retrieved July 25, 2021. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  37. ↑ "Anduril - Ghost 4 sUAS". Anduril Industries. Retrieved July 25, 2021. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 38.6 38.7 38.8 Reim, Garrett (September 10, 2020). "Anduril unveils rugged Ghost 4 recon UAV with radio silent, autonomous ops". Flight Global. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 Simonite, Tom (October 8, 2020). "Behind Anduril's Effort to Create an Operating System for War". WIRED. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Guerrero, Maurizio (July 22, 2021). "Biden's Invisible Border Wall". In These Times. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Keller, Jared (July 23, 2019). "The Marine Corps is getting 'a web of all-seeing eyes' to keep watch on bases around the world". Task & Purpose. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Dean, Sam (July 26, 2019). "A 26-year-old billionaire is building virtual border walls — and the federal government is buying". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Rodriguez, Salvador (September 11, 2019). "Oculus founder Palmer Luckey scores $1 billion-plus valuation for his virtual border wall start-up". CNBC. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  44. ↑ Jr, Tom Huddleston (15 January 2019). "Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is making a 'virtual' border wall with A.I., and it's already working". CNBC. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 45.5 Davis, Kristina (March 24, 2019). "How smart would a 'smart wall' be at the border?". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Kopan, Tal (July 27, 2017). "First on CNN: Border lawmaker teams up with Silicon Valley on 'smart wall'". CNN. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  47. ↑ Ghiaffary, Shirin (February 7, 2020). "The "smarter" wall: How drones, sensors, and AI are patrolling the border". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  48. ↑ Hatmaker, Taylor (August 4, 2019). "Palmer Luckey's Secretive Defense Company Is Booming Under Trump". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 Hatmaker, Taylor (August 4, 2019). "Palmer Luckey's Secretive Defense Company Is Booming Under Trump". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 50.4 Robertson, Adi (July 24, 2019). "Palmer Luckey's border surveillance startup is getting $13.5 million to monitor Marine Corps bases". The Verge. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  51. ↑ 51.00 51.01 51.02 51.03 51.04 51.05 51.06 51.07 51.08 51.09 51.10 51.11 51.12 Vincent, Roger; Dean, Sam (February 3, 2021). "Palmer Luckey's Anduril builds huge new HQ in former Times printing plant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  52. ↑ Palmer Luckey [@PalmerLuckey] (September 24, 2020). "What follows is the government approved statement regarding Anduril's participation in the development of the Advanced Battle Management System: Anduril has been awarded a $950,000,000 ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the . ." (Tweet). Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Twitter.
  53. ↑ Costelloe, Kevin (September 24, 2020). "Luckey's Anduril Awarded Air Force Contract Worth Up To $950M". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Tucker, Patrick (February 12, 2020). "War on Autopilot? It Will Be Harder Than the Pentagon Thinks". Defense One. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Tucker, Patrick (January 21, 2020). "Toward a War With Fewer Radio Calls". Defense One. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  56. ↑ Costelloe, Kevin (June 17, 2021). "Anduril Gets $450M in Series D Funding". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  57. ↑ Mueller, Mark (July 20, 2018). "Thiel Fund Gets Luckey". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  58. ↑ D'Urso, William (July 1, 2021). "Costa Mesa defense company eyes new growth on recent $450 million investment". Spectrum News 1. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  59. ↑ Murphy, Margi (June 24, 2019). "Palmer Luckey: Tech genius who sold company to Facebook for $3bn wants to solve Brexit's Irish border problem". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  60. ↑ Hellerstein, Erica (July 14, 2021). "On the US-Mexico border, a corridor of surveillance becomes lethal / Between the US and Mexico, a corridor of surveillance becomes lethal". Coda Story. Retrieved July 29, 2021.

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