Meta Reunites With Fired Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey to Develop Military XR Headsets

Image: Meta

Meta is developing extended reality headsets tailored for military use, designed to enhance soldiers’ situational awareness on the battlefield. The devices are expected to support real-time threat detection — such as flagging approaching drones or highlighting obscured enemy positions — while also offering interfaces to operate AI-enable combat tools.  

The wearable line, EagleEye, will integrate Meta’s Llama AI models with Anduril Industries’ Lattice system to deliver battlefield data and operational coordination in real time. If Anduril Industries sounds familiar, it’s because it was founded by Palmer Luckey — the original architect behind Oculus and once a key figure at Meta’s virtual reality division. 

Luckey and Zuckerberg reignite collaboration

Luckey also founded Oculus, the company behind the Oculus Rift headset, which helped popularise modern consumer VR. Meta acquired Oculus in 2014, but by 2017, Luckey exited the company after it was revealed he had donated to a politically charged organization during the 2016 US election.

After his ousting, Luckey became a vocal presence in the defense tech space, championing military modernization efforts while aligning himself with conservative ideals in both technology and politics. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg admitted he was “sad” when Luckey left Meta — a sentiment that came as the company began pivoting onward closer alignment with national security interests. These included hiring Republican strategist Joel Kaplan, eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and discontinuing its third-party fact-checking program due to concerns about censorship.

“I am glad to be working with Meta once again,” Luckey said in a press release from Anduril. “My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers, and the products we are building with Meta do just that.”

EagleEye’s strategic role in the future of defense technology

The products will combine both augmented and virtual reality interfaces, equipping soldiers with tools and data to aid decision-making in combat. According to Anduril, they will “save the U.S. military billions of dollars by utilizing high-performance components and technology originally built for commercial use,” something that is top of mind at the Pentagon.

Meta and Anduril have partnered to bid on a $100 million US Army contract for VR headsets, part of a larger $22 billion military wearables initiative called Soldier Borne Mission Command Next, according to the Wall Street Journal. Anduril, which replaced Microsoft as lead vendor earlier this year, said development will continue regardless of the contract outcome, as other parts of the military will likely be interested. 

For Meta, this marks its deepest venture into defence work yet. Recently, it has been hiring former Pentagon officials to help negotiations with the defence department, and opened up its Llama AI models for military applications. Anduril has also struck up partnerships with OpenAI, Oracle, and Palantir, with the aim of building a broad, integrated defence technology portfolio. 

See eWeek’s coverage about the Pentagon advancing generative AI in military operations amid US-China tech race.

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