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Project Meridian

Pentagon study effort bringing together government, academic and private-sector figures to examine technologies and battlefields of future decades.

Known aliases

  • Meridian
  • Meridian Project

Current stories

investOne report1 publisher

Anduril's CEO says merit won it up to $20 billion from the Army and up to $2.9 billion for a shipyard

Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf says competitive processes won the company up to $20 billion from the Army and up to $2.9 billion for a shipyard. The Army award dates from March, before Palmer Luckey joined Project Meridian, and the shipyard award came days after he did.

Publishers:cnbc.com qz.com

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives70
Confidence62
investConfirmed13 publishers

Anduril puts more of its own money into a submarine yard than its Navy contract is worth

Anduril is spending $3.7 billion of its own capital on a Baltimore County shipyard to go with a Navy submarine contract worth up to $2.9 billion. The yard will make Virginia-class parts, so getting the money back depends on the Navy buying more boats.

Perspective Coverage

13 publishers
Builder
Builder 14%
Operator
Operator 48%
Investor
Investor 38%

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption20
Hype gap+30
Incentives75
Confidence65
leadershipOne report1 publisher

For buyers of American AI, Trump's new czar matters more than the CEOs' self-policing pact

Donald Trump signed a 'morally binding' AI pact with six CEOs, then made intelligence chief Jay Clayton his AI czar. For firms building on American models, the appointment carries more consequence than a pledge they have no way to enforce.

Publishers:theguardian.com

Reality

Evidence38
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+30
Incentives70
Confidence35
productConfirmed4 publishers

Musk, Luckey and Gingrich have until 28 January 2027 to name the military's next technologies

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the Project Meridian study 120 days to report on what US forces need to fight future wars. Defense-tech vendors now have a report date to plan around, co-written by two executives whose companies already sell drones and satellites to the government.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 17%
Operator
Operator 39%
Investor
Investor 44%

Reality

Evidence70
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives78
Confidence68
productConfirmed4 publishers

Trump judged Grok ingenious after its Venezuela forecast came true, Time reports

Donald Trump spent hours questioning Musk's Grok at a December 2025 Oval Office meeting, a month before the Maduro raid, Time reports. The only answer made public is a forecast about Venezuelan street reaction that turned out right, a thin record for the high opinion of Grok he reportedly took away.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 24%
Operator
Operator 47%
Investor
Investor 29%

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption35
Hype gap+40
Incentives50
Confidence40
investConfirmed6 publishers

Hegseth hands the Pentagon's 120-day capability-gap study to the heads of SpaceX and Anduril

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich to lead a 120-day study of where the US military falls short. Two of the three run companies that hold Pentagon contracts, so the military's suppliers will help draft the first list of what it lacks.

Perspective Coverage

6 publishers
Builder
Builder 20%
Operator
Operator 49%
Investor
Investor 31%

Reality

Evidence72
Adoption15
Hype gap+15
Incentives70
Confidence65
leadershipOne report1 publisher

Hegseth creates a four-star autonomous warfare command before defining its powers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced AUTOWARCOM, a four-star command for autonomous and robotic warfare with "service-like authorities" he did not define. Defense suppliers now have a command to plan around before anyone has said whether it will hold money or sign contracts.

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+40
Incentives50
Confidence45