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Anduril Industries was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey — the creator of the Oculus Rift who sold his VR company to Facebook for $3 billion at age 21 — and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. The company builds autonomous weapons systems, AI-powered sensors, and mission software for the U.S. military and allied governments.
Anduril has positioned itself as a fundamentally different kind of defense company. Unlike traditional defense primes (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman) that operate on cost-plus government contracts — billing the taxpayer for development costs with guaranteed margins — Anduril invests its own venture capital to develop technology first, then sells finished, proven systems to the government. This model produces faster development timelines, lower costs per unit, and greater technological agility.
The company's core thesis is that the U.S. military needs to shift from a small number of exquisite, expensive platforms to a large number of affordable, autonomous systems that can be produced at scale. Anduril calls this vision "Rebuilding the Arsenal" — a reference to the WWII industrial mobilization, updated for the age of AI and autonomous warfare.
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