LeBlanc describes the current situation as something that is already very automated: “It’s a complete robotic war, where the robot is the main combatant and the humans are the support.”
The versatility of this humanoid allows it to enter into bunkers lows, transport supplies and operate existing weapons without the need for expensive adaptations. Additionally, its heat trail, similar to that of a human, can be used to confuse enemy surveillance systems.
Connection with Donald Trump
The rise of Foundation is not just technological, it is also political. THE Time reveals that one of the sons of the current US president Eric Trump is one of the company’s investors and was even named the company’s strategy director recently.
This support coincides with a change in stance in Washington: the Trump administration has been reducing protections and regulations on Artificial Intelligence, revoking executive orders that aimed to mitigate national security and ethical risks.
The ethical “slippery slope”
Not everyone shares the Foundation’s enthusiasm. Human rights and ethics experts, such as Bonnie Docherty of Harvard Law School, warn of the consequences of delegating life-and-death decisions to algorithms. The risk of “hallucinations”—common processing errors in language models—in lethal weapons systems is a real concern.
There is also the argument that robotic warfare can lower political barriers to the start of new conflicts. Without the political cost of bringing soldiers in coffins draped with the national flag, governments may be more tempted to engage in unnecessary armed clashes.
In contrast, Sankaet Pathak, CEO of the Foundation, states that the arms race for humanoid soldiers has already begun and that adversaries such as Russia and China are developing similar technologies, so it would be a critical disadvantage if the US did not invest in this type of technology.
LeBlanc envisions a future where wars become “droid battles,” turning bloody conflict into a purely economic contest for technological resources.
Result: while the United Nations and the Red Cross try to establish treaties to prohibit autonomous systems that operate without significant human control, the Phantom MK-1 is already walking on Ukrainian soil, marking the beginning of an era where the “human factor” can be, at the limit, removed from the combat equation.
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