This U.S. company is helping arm Ukraine against Russia — with AI drones
This U.S. company is helping arm Ukraine against Russia — with AI drones
Palmer Luckey, 31, founder of Anduril Industries, stands in front of the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater drone at company headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. Anduril recently won a U.S. Navy contract to build 200 of them annually. Philip Cheung for NPR/NPR hide caption
Palmer Luckey, 31, founder of Anduril Industries, stands in front of the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater drone at company headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. Anduril recently won a U.S. Navy contract to build 200 of them annually.
Philip Cheung for NPR/NPRPalmer Luckey launched his first tech company as a teenager. That was Oculus, the virtual reality headset for gaming. Soon after, he sold it to Facebook for $2 billion.
Now 31, Luckey has a new company called Anduril that's making Artificial Intelligence weapons. The Pentagon is buying them – keeping some for itself and sending others to Ukraine.
The weapons could be instrumental in helping Ukraine stand up to Russia.
Ukraine needs more weapons – and better weapons – to fight against Russia. Could AI weapons made by a billionaire tech entrepreneur's company hold the answer?
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This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink and Jonaki Mehta. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Andrew Sussman. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun