Meta To Develop Technology for the US Army

Meta has partnered with defense company Anduril to develop extended reality (XR) products for the US Army. This comes eight years after Meta originally fired Anduril’s founder, Palmer Luckey.

“I finally got all my toys back,” Luckey told The Wall Street Journal, referencing the VR work he previously did at Meta.

As announced in a May 29 press release, the goal of the partnership is to “design, build, and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception and enable intuitive control of autonomous platforms on the battlefield.”

The companies made a joint bid on an army contract worth up to $100 million. However, Anduril has expressed that the XR headset collaboration is moving forward regardless of whether the army picks up the contract or not.

Given the nature of the partnership, it would officially make Meta a defense contractor for the US government. Both companies have declared that all funding will come directly from private investors, without funding from US taxpayers.

“Meta has spent the last decade building AI and AR to enable the computing platform of the future. We’re proud to partner with Anduril to help bring these technologies to the American service members who protect our interests at home and abroad,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Meta.

This partnership comes as Zuckerberg makes continued moves to align himself with the current administration in the US.

In January, Meta said it would end its fact-checking program. Many speculate that this move was designed to ingratiate the company with the presidential administration, though Meta has denied this.

For its part, Anduril became the go-to company for developing virtual reality (VR) products for the US Army after Microsoft failed to deliver a functional VR headset to the military back in February.

“The world is entering a new era of computing that will give people access to limitless intelligence and extend their senses and perception in ways that have never been possible before,” said Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, CTO of Meta. “Our national security benefits enormously from American industry bringing these technologies to life.”

While Meta cosies up to the US government, it faces significant problems abroad. Earlier in May, the EU issued a €200 million fine to Meta over the company’s antitrust practices.