In an era where robots twirl gracefully on concert stages, clumsily navigate bustling Chinese streets, and dutifully vacuum European living rooms, it's easy to forget their deeper origins and potential.
These endearing demonstrations - think Boston Dynamics' Spot robot breakdancing or Unitree's quadrupeds performing tricks - serve as a clever smokescreen, distracting us from the true drivers behind robotic innovation. Historically, much of robotics development has been fueled by military interests, from DARPA-funded projects in the early 2000s to today's overt integrations.
But lately, the veil is lifting, with startups boldly embracing defense applications that were once taboo. This shift isn't just technological; it's a cultural pivot in an industry once wary of the "killer robot" stigma. Let's peel back the layers, starting with one audacious newcomer that's redefining the game.
Enter Foundation, a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2024 by a trio of visionaries: two venture-savvy entrepreneurs with Indian roots and a seasoned military engineer. Their flagship product, the Phantom humanoid robot, appears innocuous at first glance - a 5-foot-9-inch, 180-pound biped designed for mundane industrial tasks like stacking boxes or sorting inventory in warehouses.
But Phantom's real ingenuity lies in its modular architecture. Built with standardized ports, крепления (mounts), and an open API, it invites seamless integration of external modules. This flexibility allows users to bolt on reinforced armor, exoskeletal enhancements for heavy lifting, or specialized grippers for delicate operations.
In civilian contexts, this could mean deploying Phantom in disaster zones to rescue trapped individuals from collapsed caves or clear debris after hurricanes. Yet, as with many dual-use technologies, the same modularity opens doors to far more aggressive applications.
Foundation isn't shy about this duality. In a recent announcement, the company revealed ambitious plans to scale production dramatically: 40 units in 2025, ramping up to 10,000 in 2026, and a staggering 40,000 in 2027, totaling 50,000 robots by year's end.
A significant portion of these will target military uses, marking a bold departure from the industry's past reticence.
Company leaders emphasize that Phantom won't be fully autonomous killing machines; critical decisions, especially those involving lethal force, will remain with remote human operators, akin to how modern drones function. Intended scenarios include high-risk tasks like demining explosive ordnance or ferrying supplies through active combat zones - roles too dangerous for flesh-and-blood soldiers.
Phantom could even carry lethal weaponry, storm buildings to assess threats, or serve as the first line of advance over hostile terrain, potentially deterring conflicts through sheer robotic presence.
As CEO Sankaet Pathak puts it, with talent poached from Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and SpaceX, the team is betting big on this "non-zero chance" of success, positioning Phantom as a versatile "peacekeeper" in volatile regions.
This openness reflects a broader sea change in robotics. Just a few years ago, major players vehemently distanced themselves from militarization to avoid investor backlash and reputational damage.
Boston Dynamics, for instance, has long roots in military funding - its early BigDog quadruped was a DARPA project for rugged terrain logistics - but in 2022, it joined five other firms in an open pledge against weaponizing general-purpose robots.
The letter committed to not arming their creations or supporting others in doing so, citing risks from "untrustworthy people."
Similarly, Unitree Robotics, the Chinese firm behind agile robot dogs, has publicly distanced itself from military entanglements, even as its models appear in PLA drills and improvised armed setups in conflicts like Ukraine.
Unitree's revenue heavily relies on quadrupeds (65% as of 2025), and while it prepares for an IPO, it insists on civilian focus - yet videos from Chinese state media show armed Unitree bots in exercises, blurring the lines.
The taboo is crumbling, accelerated by global tensions and lucrative defense contracts. The military unmanned systems market is exploding, projected to balloon from $28 billion in 2025 to $76 billion by 2035, growing at 10.5% annually.
Startups like Shield AI are developing AI drones for military and first-responder use, while ARX Robotics and Milrem Robotics secure Series A funding for ground-based systems.
The U.S. Army is fast-tracking autonomous vehicles from firms like Overland AI and Forterra, integrating them into formations. In humanoid specifics, China's WAIC 2025 showcased a "massive army" of AI-powered bipeds, hinting at scaled military deployment.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is replacing human soldiers with robot armies for frontline tasks, including potential humanoid platforms like Tesla's Optimus adapted for combat.
Even meme-worthy outliers underscore the trend. Take the Thermonator: a Unitree Go1 robot dog outfitted with a 30-foot flamethrower by Ohio-based Throwflame. Priced affordably and available for pre-order, it's marketed as a novelty but raises alarms about easy weaponization, sidestepping anti-harm clauses in competitors' licenses.
Such gadgets, once dismissed as jokes, now preview a future where "night vision" might illuminate more than just drones - perhaps the glowing eyes of autonomous sentries.
As robotics pivots toward the battlefield, ethical questions loom. Will remote operators always hold the reins, or will AI creep into decision-making, echoing sci-fi nightmares of machine uprisings? Foundation's Phantom, with its app-store-like ecosystem for "dancing or fighting," embodies this ambiguity. Investors, once repelled, now flock to the sector, with procurement volumes for military robots expected to surge from 29,957 units in 2024 to 43,393 by 2029.
The charm offensive of cute robots may persist, but the reality is clear: humanity's mechanical creations are marching toward a dual-purpose destiny, where salvation and destruction share the same circuitry. Whether this deters wars or escalates them remains to be seen - but one thing's certain: the dance is over, and the real performance is just beginning.
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Author: Slava Vasipenok
Founder and CEO of QUASA (quasa.io) - Daily insights on Web3, AI, Crypto, and Freelance. Stay updated on finance, technology trends, and creator tools - with sources and real value.
Innovative entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in IT, fintech, and blockchain. Specializes in decentralized solutions for freelancing, helping to overcome the barriers of traditional finance, especially in developing regions.
