Meta and Anduril’s Awkward Reunion: From Fired Founder to Military Tech Partners

Hot Take:

Ah, Meta, the social media behemoth formerly known as Facebook, is at it again—this time partnering with a company founded by the guy they once kicked to the curb. Talk about awkward family reunions! Their goal? To sell military-grade augmented and virtual reality gizmos to the US military. Because nothing says ‘meta’ like using computer-generated images to help soldiers dodge real-world bullets. Maybe this time, Zuckerberg’s vision won’t cost quite as much as a small country’s GDP!

Key Points:

• Meta partners with Anduril Industries for military AR/VR devices, despite firing its founder, Palmer Luckey, in 2017.
• The collaboration aims to monetize XR (extended reality) technologies for military applications.
• Meta’s Reality Labs has consistently lost billions since its inception in 2020, with no sign of stopping.
• The US military’s $1 trillion budget might offer Meta a financial lifeline.
• Anduril’s Lattice platform will integrate AI with AR/VR to deliver real-time battlefield intelligence.

Meta’s Meta-Morphosis: From Social Media to Soldier Tech

Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, is branching out into the military sector by partnering with Anduril Industries. This collaboration marks a full-circle moment as Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, once worked for Meta before being unceremoniously let go in 2017. While we don’t know if Luckey’s political donations played a part in his departure, Meta’s own $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration fund certainly adds a spicy twist to this tale.

More Money, More Problems: Meta’s Reality Labs Woes

The partnership aims to leverage extended reality (XR) technologies—which include virtual and augmented reality—to equip the US military with cutting-edge tools. However, Meta has been burning through cash like it’s going out of style. Since 2020, its Reality Labs has seen losses ranging from $1.83 billion to $4.97 billion each quarter. Despite pouring a whopping $80 billion into various forms of ‘reality’ since acquiring Oculus in 2014, Meta still struggles to turn a profit in this sector. Perhaps the US military, with its hefty $1 trillion budget, could help Meta recoup some of its losses.

A Tale of Tech Titans: Meta and Anduril’s High-Tech Tango

The partnership between Meta and Anduril is not just about selling high-tech goggles to the military; it’s about combining strengths. Meta brings its expertise in artificial intelligence and augmented reality, while Anduril contributes its Lattice platform. This command-and-control system integrates AI to provide real-time battlefield intelligence via AR/VR interfaces. Essentially, they’re aiming to turn soldiers into tech-savvy superheroes who can make quicker and better decisions on the battlefield.

The War of the Wearables: A Bumpy Road for AR/VR

The road to perfecting head-mounted tech has been rocky, to say the least. Remember Google Glass? It was supposed to be the future but ended up being nothing more than a punchline—”Glasshole,” anyone? Microsoft had its moment in the AR spotlight with HoloLens, only to hand over its military contract to Anduril in 2025. Even Apple’s swanky Vision Pro couldn’t survive longer than a year. Yet, the market isn’t entirely dead; Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses sold two million units from October 2023 to the end of 2024, proving there’s still hope for wearable tech.

Luckey’s Comeback Tour: No Hard Feelings?

Despite the awkward history, Palmer Luckey seems thrilled to be working with Meta once more. He’s focused on making warfighters into “technomancers,” a term that sounds like it was pulled straight from a sci-fi novel. According to Luckey, the dual-use technology they are developing with Meta is precisely what America needs to maintain its edge. Whether it’s genuine excitement or a strategic business move, Luckey is back in the Meta fold, ready to conquer new realities—both virtual and augmented.

So, as the tech world watches with bated breath, Meta and Anduril embark on a mission to make military operations as high-tech as a blockbuster sci-fi movie. Here’s hoping their latest venture doesn’t end up being a costly misadventure, like some of their previous forays into ‘reality.’