Who is this 32-year-old tech billionaire developing AI weapons designed to turn the U.S. into the world’s ‘gun store’?
Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, has espoused debunked conspiracy theories and made controversial statements on various podcasts. His company, Anduril, has secured lucrative government contracts with the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, positioning itself as a major player in defense technology. Luckey's ties to the Trump administration and his family connections, including being related to Matt Gaetz, have raised eyebrows in Silicon Valley and beyond. Anduril's focus on autonomy and artificial intelligence in military applications has garnered both support and scrutiny, especially as it navigates the complex landscape of defense contracting and international sales. Despite the controversies surrounding Luckey and Anduril, the company's rise in the defense tech sector has largely gone unnoticed by the public.
On a podcast in February, Palmer Luckey confidently asserted a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory about the very origin of conspiracy theories. He told host Shawn Ryan, a former Navy Seal and CIA contractor, that “the term conspiracy theory itself and conspiracy theorist was invented by the CIA and used and pushed through their media plants to discredit anybody who questioned the results of the original JFK investigation,” adding, “It's pretty extraordinary that 'conspiracy theory,' 'conspiracy theorists' are themselves literally terms born of a government conspiracy.” That claim has been a staple of dorm rooms and internet forums for decades, even though it’s provably false. The CIA was created in 1947. By then, English speakers around the world had been using the term for roughly a century.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising in 2025 to hear yet another tech bro on yet another podcast present fallacy as fact. But some might see Luckey—who later in the episode falsely suggested that “extremists” planted a pipe bomb found outside Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on Jan. 6, 2021—as biting the hand that feeds him when he casts United States government agencies in a nefarious light. In March, his company, California-based Anduril Industries, landed hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD). Those were added to contracts the company already holds with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The U.S. government has made Anduril a defense tech “unicorn.” It’s already won over a billion dollars in government contracts. The startup’s notional valuation is now at 11 figures.
Into the Thielverse
Palmer Luckey wears his pro-Trump, hard right politics on his Aloha-printed sleeve. On Ryan’s show he called himself “pro-natalist,” echoing the enthusiasm of the likes of Elon Musk, saying, “If you don't have 2.1 kids minimum, you're a traitor to the nation and our ideals.” On his unfounded beliefs that the DNC pipe bomb may have been staged, he remarked, “I'm really stoked that we got Trump in office and that we have people coming to the FBI who are going to be able to dig into this.”
The Rise in Defense Contracting
By Luckey’s own account, Anduril’s secret sauce is routing around the defense establishment’s protracted procurement processes to deliver products that harness AI on the battlefield. As he told Shawn Ryan, “We use our own money to design and build products for the United States military and allies around the world that leverage autonomy and artificial intelligence to do things that nobody's been ever able to do with weapon systems before.” “Our business model is that we build these things using our own money, not taxpayer money, and then we show up to the government, not with a PowerPoint saying, ‘Hey, here's this thing I want you to give me the money to build from scratch,’” he added. Arguably, though, their biggest win to date has been in successfully competing in the defense procurement process against established players.
A Rising Star in Defense Contracting
Every big Anduril contract has involved embedding autonomous hardware in an AI driven system that harmonizes battlefield systems with human operators. Just weeks ago, Anduril landed a 10-year, $642 million contract to provide an AI-driven counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) for defending Marine Corps bases. This came on top of a $249 million contract with the Marines for squad-level drones to be launched in the field. According to Anduril, the base defense system provides for a round-the-clock response to unmanned attacks using their autonomous Ghost aircraft with command, control, and communication handled by their Lattice mesh networking system.
Where’s the Scrutiny?
Amid a decade of political turmoil, Anduril’s rise in defense tech has so far provoked little public response or opposition, despite pushback on AI in defense inspired by the shocking employment of AI targeting by Israeli forces in Gaza, the controversial history of closely aligned Palantir, and Luckey’s brash persona. Until now the company and its AI drones have managed to fly under the radar. That may be changing, at least on the margins.