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How Anduril Became a $14 Billion Defence Giant! So the idea began years ago when Trae Stephens and Palmer Luckey met at a Founders Fund Retreat. They observed that despite the government having millions to spend, only few startups arw able to work with the government (like SpaceX). Thus, they started Anduril as a defense compan in 2017 along with Matt Grimm, Joe Chen, and Brian Schimpf. Their first product was called Lattice, an AI-powered surveillance tower that could detect enemies autonomously. Its testing was done in 2018 in Texas, and this caught the attention of US Customs and Border Protection which began deployment in Texas and San Diego. Their name spread quickly, and the next year, the US Marine Corps signed a $13.5 million contract to deploy Anduril’s systems at bases in the US and Japan. Soon they expanded into military AI, defence drones and battleship intelligence. These products were so good that they continued to receive additional funding as well as government contracts. And soon, they were selected to work on a part of a $950 million US Air Force project aimed at AI-powered warfare. Then in 2021, they acquired Area-I, a military drone company, which was a great move as drones cost very little but can cause significant damage making them a better choice. By 2023, Anduril was no longer just a defense startup, as it began weapon manufacturing and started research in missile making. Today, Anduril is a $14 billion company, generates over $1 billion in revenue, and is among US government's top choices when it comes to defense.