Defense Tech Startup Anduril Launches AI Drone Race to Hire Talent

Job seekers often have to jump through hoops throughout the hiring process. In Anduril, they will have to fly lessons—drone lessons, to be exact. A defense technology company is offering engineers the chance to secure a job interview and compete for a $500,000 cash prize in the AI ​​Grand Prix, a new racing competition that challenges participants to build self-driving drones.

“This is an open challenge. If you think you can build an autonomous stack that can fly the best in the world, show it,” said Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril, in a statement.

The competition will see competitors race autonomous drones developed by Neros Technologies, another defense technology company, and is open to universities and private teams around the world. It has already received more than 1,000 registrants, according to Luckey. The virtual qualification rounds will take place between April and June, followed by the individual qualifiers in September and the final race in November.

The competition is the brainchild of Luckey, who founded Anduril nearly a decade ago with the goal of creating autonomous weapons to defend the West. The 33-year-old previously founded Oculus VR, a virtual reality company sold to Facebook (now Meta) for $2 billion, and worked at the company between 2014 and 2017.

Over the past few years, Anduril has become a major force in military technology, signing lucrative contracts with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies. Its products include autonomous software, drones and AI-powered helmets. The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company. most recently valued at $30.5 billion last year following a $2.5 billion funding round.

Anduril is currently building a new five-acre production facility, Arsenal-1, in Ohio, which will host the AI ​​Grand Prix final in a race organized by the Drones Champions League, a professional drone racing league. Future editions of the annual competition are expected to take place across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The AI ​​Grand Prix teams with the most points, which can include up to eight members each, will split the $500,000 prize pool. In addition, the top 1o teams that perform well at the end will be awarded guaranteed prizes of at least $5,000.

However, the top player can walk away with more than just prize money. The participant with the highest score—or one member of the group with the highest score—will also be able to obtain employment for the relevant open roles at Anduril. To be eligible, candidates must be at least 18 years old; those who do not qualify or decline the offer will receive an additional $10,000 in prize money per team member. Additionally, the best performing university teams that reach the qualifying stage will be assessed for apprenticeships and entry-level roles at Anduril.

The AI ​​Grand Prix is ​​the latest addition to a growing list of lucrative—and sometimes baffling—AI challenges. The Vesuvius Challenge, launched in 2023 by investors Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross and computer scientist Brent Seales, awarded $700,000 to a team that used AI to find ancient papyrus scrolls buried in volcanic ash. The Caller Dolittle Challenge, on the other hand, promises $10 million to anyone who develops technology that can communicate with species, while the ARC Prize offers $1 million to teams that pass certain benchmarks in AI thinking.