Okay, so here’s the deal with Palmer Luckey and his wild ride in the tech world. Picture this: Anduril, his tech company that has a military flavor, is shaking hands with Meta to craft top-notch AR and VR gear for the U.S. military. Yep, that’s happening.
Let’s rewind a bit. Remember when Luckey was just getting started with Oculus back in 2012? That VR headset thing? It kind of flipped the script on virtual reality. Fast forward a couple of years, and Facebook, now Meta, swooped in with over 2 billion bucks. Crazy, right? Luckey stayed under Meta’s roof for a while until things got weird (probably politics, who knows). Anyway, after leaving, he birthed Anduril, another hotshot startup that’s now rolling in dough.
Now, Anduril, with Luckey’s VR smarts, is messing around with mixed reality tech while also dealing with drones, sensors, the works. It even took over Microsoft’s struggling IVAS project, which is trying to hand over AR helmets to the U.S. Army. Those helmets, if you care, are like spacesuits for soldiers. I know, a bit science fiction-y.
And here’s where Meta comes back into the picture. They’re joining forces with Anduril to churn out killer XR gadgets for the military folks. Apparently, this partnership isn’t pouring taxpayer money down the drain but is leaning on private bucks. Allegedly, it’ll save Uncle Sam a ton by repurposing commercial tech. Who would’ve thought?
Luckey seems pretty jazzed about linking arms with Meta again. He’s all about turning soldiers into, what’d he say? Technomancers. Yep, like wizards, but with gadgets. Meanwhile, Meta’s head honchos, Mark Zuckerberg and Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, even penned some nice words for this big announcement. It’s like watching a frenemies-to-buddies movie unfold.
The main gig here sounds like beefing up the headset for the IVAS project—some $20 billion mission (big bucks, big pressure) to whip up an AR helmet for troops. Initially, Microsoft was steering that ship, but now Anduril is apparently piloting it, roping in Meta for their tech wizardry on the battlefield.
So, there you have it. Palmer Luckey, the comeback kid of VR, is back in cahoots with Meta, making techy dreams happen for the military. Who knew the world of virtual helmets could pack so much drama?
