Anduril's co-founder Joe is Taiwanese !!

拉奇：因中國侵略性創辦Anduril　盼台科技優勢持續
@PalmerLuckey : Founded @anduriltech Due to China's Aggression; Hopes Taiwan's Technological Advantage Continues

(CNA reporter Wu Shu-wei, Taipei, 4th)

Palmer Luckey, founder of the American defense technology company Anduril—which has been sanctioned by China due to arms sales to Taiwan—stated today that one of the reasons for founding Anduril was China's increasing aggression and its manipulation of the global economy and culture. He noted that Taiwan is a global leader in the technology sector and that he does not want to see this advantage disappear.

Luckey is currently visiting Taiwan to participate in COMPUTEX. During his interview with CNA this afternoon, it coincided with the news that the Altius-600M drones, produced by Anduril and purchased by Taiwan from the United States, successfully struck maritime targets in Yilan for the first time yesterday with a 100% hit rate.

Luckey stated that his visit to Taiwan is to meet with current and potential partners. Currently, Anduril's supply chain includes approximately 30 Taiwanese manufacturers, and the number of partner companies continues to grow.

In December last year, the Chinese government announced countermeasures against 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 senior executives involved in "arming Taiwan" in recent years, with Luckey among those named. Anduril Industries had already been placed on China's "Unreliable Entities List" for sanctions early last year.

Regarding the impact of the Chinese sanctions, Luckey stated that aside from being unable to visit China or Hong Kong, transit through these locations, or fly on Chinese-owned or invested airlines, there have been no other real negative effects. "I've always wanted to be sanctioned [by China]," he said.

Luckey recalled that after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022 and was subsequently sanctioned by China, he complained to friends that "it wasn't fair" because he felt he had done more for Taiwan than Pelosi had. Consequently, he made being sanctioned by China a goal. Now that China has labeled him a "radical separatist terrorist," he has framed the sanction notice and hung it on his wall, treating it as a badge of honor.

Luckey pointed out that one of the reasons for founding Anduril was China's increasing aggression and its manipulation of economies and cultures around the world. While working in Silicon Valley, he witnessed firsthand how tech companies were blinded by China, mistakenly believing it would be the next major market.

Luckey founded the virtual reality company Oculus VR at the age of 19 and sold it to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. In past interviews, Luckey has mentioned visiting Shenzhen and other locations in China numerous times.

Regarding his experience dealing with China, Luckey shared that China has built a very powerful production machine; if one lacks ideology or national loyalty, China is an excellent place to manufacture products. However, he had already personally experienced how the Chinese government's operations and values differ drastically from those of Western countries. During past business trips to China, samples left in his hotel room were frequently stolen, and on one occasion, a sample he received was actually fitted with a bug capable of transmitting via radio.

Luckey said that in the United States, such incidents would be immediately reported to the FBI, but in China, calling the police is useless because officials will not stop the theft of intellectual property—in fact, the government might even be involved. He experienced this firsthand and quickly had enough.

Luckey stated that many of the displays and semiconductors for Oculus products came from Taiwan. Through this, he realized that Taiwan holds a unique position in the global technology industry and leads the rest of the world. He noted that some things in the world exist only because Taiwan is a leader in the tech field, adding, "I don't want that advantage to disappear."

Luckey, who visited Taiwan many times in the past for Oculus business, said this is his fourth visit on behalf of Anduril. His personal connection to Taiwan goes even further; he revealed that one of Anduril's co-founders, Joe Chen, is Taiwanese and recently accompanied his mother back to Taiwan.

"So you know, it's like if you have a Ukrainian friend, you might not like Russia very much," Luckey said, noting the logic is the same.

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