Meta and Anduril Develop AI Combat Helmet for the US Army

Meta Platforms Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with the defense company Anduril Industries Inc. to co-develop innovative military-grade products for the U.S. Armed Forces. Among the key developments is a cutting-edge combat helmet enhanced with artificial intelligence, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) features.

According to a post on Anduril’s social network, the companies are jointly working on the “design, manufacture, and deployment of a broad range of integrated XR-based products that provide military personnel with expanded situational awareness and intuitive control over autonomous platforms on the battlefield.”

One such innovation is the Eagle Eye combat helmet, as reported by Core Memory. Described as a long-anticipated concept, it has drawn comparisons to “Call of Duty” goggles and the iconic “Halo” helmet. “These are old ideas that only recently became technically feasible,” said Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril.

Luckey is also the original founder of Oculus VR, the company behind virtual reality headsets acquired by Meta in 2014.

In November, Meta updated its “acceptable use” policy for AI, permitting its large language models to be used by U.S. defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., and Palantir Technologies Inc.

This collaboration also marks an unexpected reunion between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Palmer Luckey. Luckey previously claimed he was pushed out of Meta following his financial support for a group that created anti-Hillary Clinton memes ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.