Defense technology company Anduril, founded by Palmer Luckey, has created a novel recruitment tool: the AI Grand Prix, a drone-racing contest where autonomous software competes for a $500,000 prize and the chance to bypass the standard hiring process. Partnering with the Drone Champions League, the event aims to attract top engineering talent by testing their code in high-speed aerial competitions, with finals set for Ohio this November.
The pitch for most tech competitions goes something like: “Enter our hackathon for a chance to win cash and glory.” The pitch from Anduril, the defense tech firm known for autonomous systems, is far more direct: win our race, and you might just win a job. This is the core of the newly launched AI Grand Prix, a drone-flying contest with a massive twist. The drones aren’t piloted by humans with controllers; they’re flown by artificial intelligence algorithms written by competing teams. The goal is to find and recruit the brightest minds in autonomy by watching their code perform under pressure.
“It was something that I decided we should do,” Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril, told TechCrunch in an interview. The idea emerged from a recruitment strategy meeting. While someone initially suggested sponsoring a traditional drone race—akin to the company’s sponsorship of a NASCAR event—Luckey pushed for something that aligned with Anduril’s core mission. He recalled telling the team, “What we should really do is sponsor a race that’s about how well programmers and engineers can make a drone fly itself.”
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The resulting competition offers a $500,000 prize pool for the highest-scoring teams, but the more enticing reward for many will be the opportunity to land a job at Anduril and skip its conventional recruiting cycle. Interestingly, the teams won’t be flying Anduril’s own hardware. As Luckey explained to TechCrunch, the company’s drones are typically larger systems. For the high-speed, indoor course in Ohio where the finals will be held, competitors will use drones built by another defense startup, Neros Technologies.
Logistically, Anduril is partnering with the established Drone Champions League and JobsOhio to operate the event. Luckey is hoping for at least 50 teams and has already seen interest from multiple universities. He’s excited to attend but won’t be competing. “I’m not actually a very good software programmer,” he smiled, noting he’s more of a hardware specialist. This contest is squarely about software prowess.
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There is, however, a geopolitical filter on participation. While open to international entrants, teams from Russia are excluded. “The difference with Russia is they are actively engaged in the act of invading Europe,” Luckey stated, noting the concern that skilled entrants might be tied to their nation’s military. Teams from China, a hub of autonomous engineering, are welcome, though any winning team member would still have to pass standard U.S. employment vetting. “If you work for the Chinese military, you’re not going to be allowed to get a job at Anduril,” he clarified.
The broader vision extends beyond quadcopters. Luckey envisions this as the first step toward a whole circuit of AI racing. “We want to be, in the future, applying AI racing to other platforms as well,” he said, floating ideas for underwater, ground, and even spacecraft races. For now, the focus is on the inaugural aerial competition, with qualifying rounds starting in April and the final Grand Prix in November. It’s more than a spectacle; it’s a high-stakes, public audition for the next generation of autonomy engineers.
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