A provision buried deep within Donald Trump’s behemoth budget bill essentially earmarks funds for Anduril, the defense technology company heavily backed by apocalyptic prophet Peter Thiel.
The Intercept reported Wednesday that a provision allocating some of the $6 billion set aside for border tech stipulates that any border surveillance towers must be “tested and accepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deliver autonomous capabilities.”
CBP confirmed to the Intercept that Anduril’s Sentry Tower line, which use “autonomous” capabilities to scan the horizon for objects of interest, were the only towers that currently fit the bill’s requirements.
This provision is a massive blow to competitors with similar products, such as Israeli company Elbit or General Dynamics. It also undermines exactly the kind of competition that the Trump administration has said it hopes to foster in the search for the best AI technology to power the American machine for deportation and death.
Thiel’s Founders Fund contributed $1 billion to Anduril during its most recent fundraising round. Anduril was founded by Palmer Luckey, former Representative Matt Gaetz’s brother-in-law. In April, Anduril took over Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar contract to develop an augmented reality headset program with the U.S. Army, and partnered with Meta to make a range of products for the military.
Trump’s budget, which was signed into law last week, provided a whopping $165 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including $46.5 billion for new border wall construction, $3.2 billion for new technology, and $2.7 billion for new border surveillance.
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