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Palmer Luckey surprised a lot of people with news that his Anduril Industries is collaborating with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg on a battlefield defense project.
But they shouldn’t have been, despite Luckey’s noisy departure from Facebook years ago and the feud that followed.
“If people come to your side, you shouldn’t push them back and say, ‘hey, fu** off,’” Luckey told an interviewer on May 29. “You had different beliefs 10 years ago. You should say: ‘Come on in. The tent’s big, and I’m happy to have you.’”
Besides, he said, the people who “conspired” to have Zuckerberg fire him have left the company, which has since been renamed Meta (Nasdaq: META).
“It’s literally different people,” Luckey said on Ashlee Vance’s podcast “Core Memory’’ on May 29, the day the collaboration was announced.
‘Eagle Eye’ for Soldiers
Meta, based in Menlo Park, and Anduril will be developing Eagle Eye, to make helmets, goggles and other wearables that provide a virtual reality or augmented reality experience for battlefield soldiers.
With sensors to enhance hearing and long-range vision, the extended reality helmets will interact with AI-powered weapon systems.
The partnership also vindicates Luckey’s long-held contention that Silicon Valley companies need to overcome their reluctance to work with the Pentagon.
“Tech generally, broadly has realized they do have some obligation to support national security, that working with the government is not a terrible thing,” he said.
The announcement of the collaboration was accompanied by a picture of the two men standing side by side and smiling.
New Tech, Data Feeds for Battlefield
The new system will display all kinds of information in front of soldiers’ faces by tapping into virtual and augmented reality technology and data feeds.
The now-settled feud is legendary among tech entrepreneurs.
In 2014, Facebook acquired Luckey’s Oculus VR headset company for $2.3 billion. In 2016, Facebook then fired Luckey, a move he says stemmed from a donation to a group that opposed then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Zuckerberg told congress in 2018 the firing was not due to a “political view.”
Luckey headed back to Orange County, where he started defense phenomenon Anduril Industries.
‘Technomancers’ the Next Step
“I am glad to be working with Meta once again,” Luckey said in a written announcement on May 29. “Of all the areas where dual-use technology can make a difference for America, this is the one I am most excited about. My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers, and the products we are building with Meta do just that.”
Clearly, Zuckerberg was also glad to be back cooperating with Luckey, at least according to his statement. “We’re proud to partner with Anduril to help bring these technologies to the American servicemembers that protect our interests at home and abroad.”
Anduril Industries said in February it planned to take over control of a high-tech battlefield vision, communications and orientation program from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), a U.S. Army project reportedly worth $22 billion over 10 years.
Luckey said the two companies have been quietly working together on the project for “approximately a year.”