It’s one of those headlines that would have been unthinkable five years ago: Meta is partnering with Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries to build combat-ready VR headsets for the U.S. military.
The man Facebook (now Meta) once fired amid political controversy is now collaborating with Mark Zuckerberg’s company on a $100 million defence contract proposal for next-generation soldier gear. And the tech press is not shocked—it’s being reported, even celebrated, as a savvy move.
This partnership tells us something profound: Silicon Valley’s morality gap around defence tech is closing.
From Project Maven to Anduril: The Arc of a Culture Shift
In 2018, Google faced massive internal protests over Project Maven—a Pentagon AI initiative that aimed to improve drone targeting. Thousands of Google employees signed a letter opposing the project, arguing that big tech should not build tools of war. The backlash became a defining moment: major tech companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, began treading carefully around military contracts.
Palmer Luckey’s own trajectory mirrored this friction. Forced out of Facebook in 2017 after his political donations became public, he founded Anduril, an explicitly pro-defence startup. His mission? To modernise U.S. and allied military tech with Silicon Valley-grade innovation.
For years, that stance set Anduril apart from the Valley mainstream. Today, it looks prescient.
Why Meta Is Re-Embracing Defence
Meta’s Reality Labs division has burned billions pursuing the vision of a consumer metaverse. But as VR headset sales plateau and shareholder patience thins, enterprise and defence contracts offer a new path to revenue and relevance.
The U.S. Army’s IVAS (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) programme—despite its rocky rollout with Microsoft HoloLens—remains a potential $22 billion opportunity. The Soldier Borne Mission Command Next (SBMC-N) programme, for which Meta and Anduril are now bidding, aims to equip soldiers with rugged XR systems that enhance situational awareness.
In short: defence is no longer a sideline. It’s an essential market for VR companies.
Defence Tech Is Becoming Cool Again
Perhaps the most striking part of this story is cultural. The idea that Meta would publicly partner with Anduril in 2025—and that both Zuckerberg and Luckey would issue upbeat statements about it—marks a sea change.
“My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers,” said Luckey.
Zuckerberg echoed the strategic value of equipping U.S. servicemembers with cutting-edge tech.
The stigma is fading. Where Project Maven sparked protests, today’s announcements are met with interest, not outrage. In part, this reflects geopolitical realities: rising tensions with China, Ukraine’s war effort, and the perception that U.S. tech leadership is a national security issue.
Implications for the VR Industry
- Normalisation of defence work: Expect more VR and XR startups to openly court military contracts.
- Tech flowback: Combat-grade VR solutions will likely inform commercial advances (durability, eye strain reduction, extreme performance optimisation).
- Evolving talent attitudes: Younger engineers entering the industry may now see defence work as mission-driven, not ethically compromised.
A Strategic Alliance
Beyond hardware, this partnership hints at a broader strategic alignment:
- Meta brings optics, headset design, and AI models (LLaMA)
- Anduril brings Lattice AI platform, battlefield integration expertise, and defence procurement know-how
Together, they’re well positioned to challenge incumbents like Microsoft and Northrop Grumman in the emerging XR-for-defence space.
Final Thought
Palmer Luckey’s return to work with Meta is more than a personal reconciliation. It’s a signal that Silicon Valley’s defence aversion is giving way to a more pragmatic, partnership-driven era.
For the VR industry, this opens new markets, new risks, and new questions. Will the culture embrace this shift? Or will the old debates resurface as these collaborations deepen?
As always, VR Related will be watching.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Insider, Breaking Defense, Anduril press release.
