– Anduril has announced the AI Grand Prix, a global autonomous drone racing competition challenging the world’s best engineers to prove their autonomy software under real-world flight conditions. Teams will compete for a $500,000 prize pool and the opportunity to interview for a role at Anduril.
Conceived by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, the AI Grand Prix is an open challenge to university teams and independent engineers from the United States and around the world. Competitors will race fully autonomous drones built by Neros Technologies, a leading American manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems. No human pilots and no hardware modifications are permitted, ensuring competitive advantage is driven entirely by software performance.
The race series is operated by the Drone Champions League (DCL), the world’s leading professional drone racing organization, with its AI vector module integrated into the competition platform.
“This is an open challenge,” said Luckey. “If you think you can build an autonomy stack that can out-fly the world’s best, show us.”
The competition begins with a remote qualification phase in spring 2026, during which teams will submit autonomy software to race in a virtual environment. Top performers will advance to in-person training and qualification, adapting their systems from simulation to real-world flight.
The series will culminate in a live, head-to-head autonomous drone race in November 2026, hosted by Anduril in Columbus, Ohio, in partnership with JobsOhio. The event builds on Anduril’s Arsenal-1 hyperscale manufacturing facility and reinforces Ohio’s role as a growing hub for advanced industrial and autonomy talent.
Future seasons will expand globally across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
Source: Anduril