After last September's revelations that Palmer Luckey donated $100,000 to a pro-Trump organization dedicated to spreading anti-Clinton memes, the Oculus founder disappeared from public view. He resurfaced in March following his departure from Facebook, and is now back in the spotlight with a new company that makes technology designed to monitor border crossings.
Information on Luckey's new startup comes from a New York Times article yesterday that cites three "people familiar" with the matter.
The business reportedly uses the same kind of lidar tech found in self-driving cars for the surveillance of country borders and restricted areas such as military bases. The system also utilizes infra-red sensors and standard cameras to monitor the locations.
The report adds that specialized software will be able to identify different targets, such as humans, wildlife, and even drones. The system is being put forward as an alternative to expensive border walls like the US/Mexico project Trump wants to build.
Peter Thiel, one of the few Silicon Valley names who publicly supported Trump during his campaign, is planning to partly fund the business with money from his Founders Fund.
"We are spending more than ever on defense technology, yet the pace of innovation has been slowing for decades. We need a new kind of defense company, one that will save taxpayer dollars while creating superior technology to keep our troops and citizens safer," Luckey said in a statement to the Times.
Luckey has reportedly already met with White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon to discuss the surveillance technology and the possibility of using it at the Mexico border.