Want a Job at Anduril? Skip the Resume and Race a Drone Instead.

Getting face time with a hiring manager is no small feat these days. Recruiters often rely on automated resume filters to sift through mountains of AI-optimized resumes  — and in some cases offload the initial screening interview to bots — creating a process that is almost entirely governed by artificial intelligence. But California-based defense-tech company Anduril is taking a different approach, inviting candidates to demonstrate their technical abilities in a drone-racing competition it is calling the “AI Grand Prix.” 

The AI Grand Prix challenges engineers from around the world to develop the kind of autonomous drone-flying software Anduril is known for. The winner will have a chance to bypass much of the recruiting process and interview directly with a hiring manager for a job at the company. 

“This is an open challenge,” Anduril founder Palmer Lucky said in a press release. “If you think you can build an autonomy stack that can out-fly the world’s best, show us.”

First, What Is Anduril?

Anduril is a technology company that develops devices and software for military and national security use. Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, the inventor of the Oculus virtual reality headset, and several former defense and Silicon Valley executives, Anduril positions itself as a newer, more AI-focused alternative to traditional defense contractors.

The company builds and deploys a wide variety of specialized hardware, including surveillance towers, underwater vehicles and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, as well as a range of autonomous drones built for intelligence, reconnaissance and strike missions. All of these are powered by Anduril’s core platform, Lattice, which uses machine learning in combination with cameras, radar and other sensors to track potential threats and coordinate responses in real time.

Anduril has secured several contracts with U.S. defense and homeland security agencies, supporting various border security and counter-drone operations.

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How Does Anduril’s AI Grand Prix Work?

Anduril’s AI Grand Prix challenges contestants to develop an algorithm that can guide drones through a series of virtual and real-world courses entirely on its own — no remote controls involved. 

The competition begins with a virtual phase, in which teams submit their software to race through a series of custom-built, simulated courses between April and June. The top teams will then be brought to southern California for a two-week training and qualification round in September, where they’ll run their software on autonomous drones built by Neros Technologies. Because competitors are prohibited from modifying the drones, their performance hinges entirely on the speed and precision of their algorithm.

In November, finalists will compete in the AI Grand Prix championship event in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeye State is special to Anduril because it recently established a hyperscale manufacturing facility, Arsenal-1, near the Rickenbacker International Airport, about 20 minutes south of Columbus.

Anduril intends to make the AI Grand Prix an annual event, with plans to expand it globally to Asia, the Middle East and Europe. 

Who Can Compete?

The contest is open to individuals and teams of up to eight people. No professional credentials or certifications are required. All ages are allowed too, but parental consent is required for anyone younger than 18, and contestants younger than 14 must have a parent or guardian register with them.

There is some fine print, of course. Due to Anduril’s contracts with the U.S. government, the winning contestant must be able to obtain and maintain an active security clearance. Russian citizens are prohibited from participating. And for a foreign contestant to be eligible, Anduril must have an open, business-critical role available in their country of citizenship. 

What Does the Winner Get?

The top ten winners will split a prize pool of $500,000. But the real prize — a job at Anduril — will go to the highest scoring participant, or a single member of the highest scoring team. Those who are deemed ineligible to work at Anduril will be awarded with $10,000 in prize money in lieu of employment.

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An Alternative to Conventional Recruiting

While landing a job offer through a drone-racing competition is certainly unusual, Anduril’s AI Grand Prix reflects a broader shift in how the tech industry evaluates talent — placing technical proficiency ahead of university degrees, professional background or other credentials.

Since the early 2000s, tech companies have used coding competitions to identify engineers who may have otherwise been overlooked. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has hosted its Hacker Cup since 2011, and Google held numerous coding contests until 2023. Stripe has hired programmers who discovered and exploited security vulnerabilities through its capture-the-flag tournament, while Yelp, Walmart and other employers have recruited top data scientists through competitions on Kaggle. In each case, performance — not pedigree — is the primary filter.

These efforts fall under the umbrella of skills-based hiring, a recruiting philosophy that evaluates job applicants based on what they can do rather than where they studied or worked. One in three companies no longer require a college degree, according to a Payscale study, as some view it as an unnecessary barrier that is unrelated to overall job performance. In the case of Anduril’s AI Grand Prix, the competition could surface highly capable engineers who may have been passed over for not having a university degree or a traditional work history. 

Advocates argue that skills-based hiring also promotes a culture of meritocracy, because it measures candidates by their contributions instead of their background. Palantir CEO Alex Karp, a Ph.D. who is critical of the apparent impracticality and ideological conformity of academia, created a Meritocracy Fellowship that teaches recent high school graduates about “everything from Plato to software architecture,” while also offering real-world professional experience as deployment strategists, forward deployed engineers and developers.

Recruiting efforts that focus on technical chops also tap into the curiosity and drive of engineers. That ambition and resourcefulness are at the core of Anduril’s AI Grand Prix initiative. In an interview with the Shawn Ryan Show, Luckey advised young innovators to pursue passion projects, and to seek out information through YouTube and other online sources, as they may be years ahead of what is being taught in university courses.  

“When I hire people at Anduril, I look for people who have done projects that were outside of what their work paid them to do or what their school made them do. Because that means they’re the type of person who is willing to work on things with their own money and their own time. Because they want to bring something into this world that wouldn’t have existed otherwise,” Luckey said. “To me, that’s what drives you to learn the most.”

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