Ultimate Warrior?

The team behind this android expects humanoid robots to be weaponized for military use. A demo at Newsweek’s HQ showed there is still a ways to go

- JOSHUA RHETT MILLER

MEET PHANTOM MK1: AN IMPOSING HUMANOID robot designed to transform battlefields, the moon and even Mars—and it may already be taking jobs near you.

The 5-foot-9, 176-pound steel and plastic android that can walk nearly 4 mph is manufactured by Foundation, a well-funded San Francisco-based startup with lofty ambitions for 2026 and beyond. These include ongoing discussions with the Department of War for the robots to augment or take over perilous tasks performed by soldiers, company officials told Newsweek during a private demonstration in New York City.

“Essentially, the general principle is we want them to be able to do anything humans do—that’s step one,” Foundation CEO and co-founder Sankaet Pathak said in early November. “The ultimate goal would be sending these robots out upwards, on the moon and Mars, to build infrastructure, defend that infrastructure, maintain that infrastructure; places that humans cannot really go.”

The vast skill set needed by Phantom to accomplish those otherworldly objectives can be learned via various defense-related applications, including maintaining and refueling aircraft or breaching barriers in combat zones, Pathak said.

“If you actually do defense-use cases, you build infrastructure, you maintain it, you safeguard it,” he said. “So, we think it’s a very important thing to be able to do if what we really want to do is expand the scope and scale of consciousness and send humanity to a different planet.”

A Department of War official told Newsweek: “In an evolving and dynamic threat environment, the War Department embraces autonomous systems. From drones to robotics, innovative autonomous technology will be developed and deployed to strengthen the capabilities of the warfighter. Autonomous systems are the future of the battlefield, and whether these systems are used to deliver medical supplies or to increase operational efficiency, the Department is actively exploring these new frontiers.”