Making an exciting move is Anduril Industries — a controversial defense tech company that produces autonomous weapons systems for the U.S. military. They’ve joined efforts with Drone Champions League and Ohio’s JobsOhio to stage the inaugural AI Grand Prix event. This competitive and action-packed drone racing event displays the best and latest in autonomous flight technology. The best teams will battle it out over a fierce prize pot of $500,000. That last one is likely to happen in Ohio, where one of Anduril’s main factories is located.
The AI Grand Prix is opening its inaugural AI Grand Prix with three thrilling qualifying rounds in April. All of this builds to an exhilarating championship race, scheduled for November! The event is open to teams from all around the world, excepting from Russia, and hopes to bring in at least 50 participants. To incentivize those winning teams to continue building advanced technologies, Anduril will get them hired afterward. Members of China teams are not assured of having jobs at the firm.
Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, underscored the notion that this event is meant to go beyond the limits of existing drone technology. He mentioned the importance of autonomy in drone operations, stating, “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.”
Anduril’s drones aren’t really built for the extreme ultra-high speed, small size, and agility that drone racing champions need. Instead, they manufacture larger systems. Continuing from above, Luckey added, “We talked about having teams use Anduril drones but Anduril doesn’t make any very-high-speed, very-small drones like the ones you would be using in the Drone Racing League. It’s mostly bigger stuff.”
The AI Grand Prix aims to blend traditional drone racing with artificial intelligence, allowing teams to program their drones for autonomous flight. Luckey noted, “What we should really do is sponsor a race that’s about how well programmers and engineers can make a drone fly itself.”
We know these rules can feel stifling to creativity and technical ingenuity, but they are non-negotiable. Luckey specifically stated that people employed by the Chinese Military need not apply to Anduril. “If you work for the Chinese military, you’re not going to be allowed to get a job at Anduril,” he said.
The agreement to work with JobsOhio is in line with Anduril’s mission to stimulate creation of local high-tech jobs while advancing innovation in government and defense. Luckey conveyed his enthusiasm for the project: “It was something that I decided we should do.”
The AI Grand Prix is an unprecedented event in drone racing. It’s hoping to expand and feature more than just traditional quadcopter racing drones in the next round of competitions. Luckey expressed aspirations for diversification: “We want to be, in the future, applying AI racing to other platforms as well.”