Palmer Luckey’s Anduril is getting into laptops — and claims they’ll be American-made

Anduril and Qualcomm are partnering on a new line of laptops called BlueChip, launching in early 2027. The first prototype is a ruggedized model using Arm-based Snapdragon X series chips and aimed at the US military, but the ultimate focus of the joint venture is to make laptops entirely in the US. Eventually.

At launch BlueChip will still use foreign components from “allies around the world,” according to Anduril founder Palmer Luckey. The first BlueChip laptops will be “designed and assembled in the United States” with a “long-term goal of building a fully domestic supply chain,” per Anduril’s official press release. Circuitboard assembly is planned to be done at Anduril’s Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio.

Anduril and Qualcomm aren’t sharing many details on how they’re going to build enough manufacturing in the US for a laptop that’s 100-percent domestically made. During a virtual Q&A session with media that included The Verge, Luckey and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon laid out the motivations for American-made (or at least, American-assembled) laptops. It’s the talking points you’d expect: keeping US money in the US, the potential for creating domestic jobs, minimizing technological / economic reliance on other countries, and reducing national security vulnerabilities.

When asked what percentage of the BlueChip laptop’s components will be made in the US once it launches in 2027, Luckey specified the display glass, the frame around the display, and parts of the ribbon component. In a post on X after this story was published, Luckey said he had been responding to “a specific question about the display modules in the current prototype vs the final product. As I explicitly said, BlueChip has American chips, batteries, metallics, plastics, glass, etc, and we have a clear technical roadmap to 100% American components.”

Here’s the exchange from the call:

The Verge: When it arrives in 2027, what percent of the components in the BlueChip laptop will be made in the US?

Luckey: TBD. I’m doing my very, very best. It’s gonna be a whole mix of things based on when do certain memory fabs come online? When do certain CPU, GPU fabs come online? There’s a whole— Like, am I able to get a display line here or not? Do I have to do that after launch? I’m being totally open kimono with you here. Those questions are not settled. It is not clear if I will be able. I know the glass is gonna be made in the US, I know the frame is gonna be made in the US around that display. I know that parts of the ribbon component are gonna be made in the U.S. I don’t know if I will have successfully pulled that component in or a dozen other components. So it’s a little up in the air. I’m doing my very, very best. I think most likely the thing that we ship is not going to be 100-percent American. I think it’ll be a blend of US and allies around the world, mostly US, probably a few things from some allies, and then that’ll be in the context of conversations with those allies about bringing those components into production in the United States, and I’m being honest with the government on this too. I mean, I’ve had conversations where I’ve said, listen. I would love to give you guys an American, 100-percent American laptop right off the bat, but that is not the environment the US government has created or US industry has created. I can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

When asked whether BlueChip’s first laptop will meet the 65-percent requirement to count as American-made under federal procurement rules, Anduril spokesperson Stephanie Davis told The Verge via email, “For the prototype today, approximately 32% is U.S.-origin by component procurement cost, and more than 90% is sourced from the United States and allied countries combined. We’re working to expand domestic sourcing and production ahead of planned availability in 2027, with the goal of eliminating foreign content and ultimately establishing an end-to-end American supply chain. The final domestic-content percentage at launch remains unsettled, so we can’t confirm above or below 65% today.”

During the briefing, Luckey said that Anduril’s goal is to have a 100 percent American supply chain:

We are not just barely meeting the bar for Made in America. We are going hard to make this an all-American play, and not even the Buy American Act requires requires what we’re trying. We’re trying to do the ultimate version of this because I know that the law, actually, in my opinion, doesn’t go far enough.

As for the chips in BlueChip, Qualcomm’s Amon told The Verge it intends to manufacture processors for this laptop at TSMC Arizona. When The Verge followed up to ask how much money Qualcomm is investing into that, Qualcomm communications rep Yelena Tebcherani said, “We don’t have any more details to share at the moment.”

Anduril’s first potential customer for BlueChip laptops is the same as its drones: the US military. The prototype is a ruggedized computer aimed at military personnel, complete with a rifle strap-style carrying handle — presumably so a soldier can slam the laptop shut, quickly grab it, and get on the move. It will run Windows or two undisclosed versions of Linux.

During the Q&A, Luckey indicated that BlueChip is funded entirely by Anduril and Qualcomm, not government subsidies. He mentioned that Anduril is starting with a military laptop to first service users with the most stringent hardware needs and software security demands. It’s also likely for pursuing those valuable government contracts that could call for large quantities of expensive computers. After the government and defense sectors, Anduril’s next target will be first responders and public safety, before eventually getting to consumer-level laptops — the lowest on the priority list. Luckey mentioned offhandedly, “I’d say the worst case here is that this is going to be a low volume laptop for critical industries and government needs that desperately need something like this to exist.”

Palmer Luckey is of course a controversial figure. Anduril is better known for making drones and autonomous weapons, while Luckey continues making consumer-facing products like Game Boy clones — often polarizing the communities they’re meant to serve. Bringing a supply chain for computers back to the US and one day manufacturing a fully American-made laptop sounds a tall order. It’s complicated even further once you consider the person and company behind it.

Correction, October 27th: This story originally mischaracterized Luckey’s political spending in 2016; he donated to a “pro-Trump troll group dedicated to ‘shitposting in real life,’” which only ever produced “a single billboard,“ according to Tablet Magazine; he did not “[fuel] right wing troll farms,” as this story initially stated. This story also misstated Luckey’s position at Anduril. He is Anduril’s founder, not CEO.

This story has also been updated with Luckey’s response and additional comments on which components will be made in the US.