Palmer Luckey’s company, Anduril, has announced an innovative recruiting event called the AI Grand Prix, a drone flying contest designed to attract talented individuals from around the globe. The competition will feature a unique twist, as it not only tests participants’ flying skills but offers job opportunities as prizes. The competition is open to international teams, except for teams from Russia, and is encouraging teams from China to join in.
Luckey said he hoped to draw at least 50 teams to the competition, noting robust interest from a number of universities. The AI Grand Prix opens with three high-octane qualifying heats, starting in April. It all builds to the exciting championship race scheduled for November! This wonderful competition joins the Drone Champions League and JobsOhio in the fun. It’s meant to highlight the amazing possibilities inherent in autonomous drone technology.
In addition to the bragging rights of winning the premier collegiate data analytics competition, the competition features a large $500,000 prize pool, shared with the top-scoring teams. The last battleground will be in Ohio, the home of a vital Anduril manufacturing plant. Luckey explained that Anduril’s drones are just too big for the smaller racing format seen in events like this. As a result, they will be uncompetitive.
“Guys, that would be a really dumb thing for Anduril to sponsor. The whole point, our entire impetus and reason for being, is this pitch that autonomy has finally advanced to where you don’t have to have a person micromanaging each drone,” – Palmer Luckey
Luckey stressed that the AI Grand Prix is all supposed to be about immersing racers in exciting first-person-view drone racing. It showcases the most recent innovations in autonomous technology. He remarked, “What we should really do is sponsor a race that’s about how well programmers and engineers can make a drone fly itself.”
In order to maintain the integrity of the competition and Anduril’s values, Luckey clarified eligibility requirements for participants regarding their affiliations. He stated, “If you work for the Chinese military, you’re not going to be allowed to get a job at Anduril,” underscoring the company’s commitment to security and ethical considerations in hiring.
Anduril made the decision to host the AI Grand Prix following an in-house discussion. They hoped to meet the drone community and develop new talent acquisition avenues. “It was something that I decided we should do,” Luckey said, reflecting on the company’s proactive approach to innovation and recruitment.
Luckey further offered some details about the types of drones teams can expect to see in the competition. We used to joke about getting teams to pilot Anduril drones, but Anduril doesn’t produce any drones that meet the ultra-high speed, very small size that you’d want for a Drone Racing League. It’s mostly bigger stuff,” he explained.
For the time being, emphasis will be placed on quadcopter racing drones, similar to what the public would expect to see at drone racing competitions. Luckey said that he hoped to move AI racing applications to other platforms in later competitions. “We are starting with these quadcopter racing drones, which is what people expect from drone racing. We want to be, in the future, applying AI racing to other platforms as well,” he noted.
This cutting-edge competition aims at professional race pilots and welcomes coders and techies. Combined, they’ll help to shape the future of next generation autonomous technology. Luckey understood that he was not a software programmer. He argued that the best AI systems succeed in consultation and consternation between engineers and programmers. “I’m not actually a very good software programmer. I’m more of a hardware guy… I know just enough about coding to glue stuff together in a way that works for my prototypes,” he stated.