Anduril Partners With Meta on Military Headsets, A Headset Drought?, Apple Is Needed (Once Again)

Hello everyone. We will kick off today’s update with an interesting tie-up between Anduril Industries, a U.S. weapons manufacturer, and Meta. The discussion will then turn to a few broader points regarding the headset industry.

Let’s jump right in.



Anduril Partners With Meta on Military Headsets

In a press release issued on May 29th, here’s Anduril:

“Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build, and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception and enable intuitive control of autonomous platforms on the battlefield. The capabilities enabled by the partnership will draw on more than a decade of investment by both companies in advanced hardware, software, and artificial intelligence. The effort has been funded through private capital, without taxpayer support, and is designed to save the U.S. military billions of dollars by utilizing high-performance components and technology originally built for commercial use.

This partnership comes at a pivotal moment in the evolution of national defense. America’s national security has benefited from U.S. technological leadership at every phase of the computing revolution, from the first microchips and PCs to today’s internet and mobile devices. As a new era of computing takes shape—built atop AI and body-worn devices—Meta and Anduril are committed to maintaining America’s technological edge while reinforcing our economic and national security.

‘Meta has spent the last decade building AI and AR to enable the computing platform of the future,’ said Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Meta. ‘We’re proud to partner with Anduril to help bring these technologies to the American servicemembers that protect our interests at home and abroad.’”


My initial reaction to this news: Meta is willing to further dilute its HW focus, which is already diffused across what are likely too many unreleased products and categories, to now work on military technology with a weapons manufacturer. Across Silicon Valley, the concept of focusing remains highly underrated. Instead, accolades and applause are being handed out far too easily to companies that simply announce things.

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