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(Victor Tangermann Avatar)   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann      Published  Sep 15, 2026 2:08 PM EDT           (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=futurism.com) Add Futurism (opens in a new tab)      More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.        (A color-treated photo of a Foundation Phantom robot.)   Waves1234 via Wikimedia Commons    Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech  (handle_newsletter_email_submission) (ba5edd7c67)  (/robots-and-machines/robot-soldiers-getting-terrifying)  (FUTinline) (0) Email address  (Enter your email) (Please enter a valid email address)  Sign Up  Thank you!           Aerial drones have become a startlingly common sight on the battlefield. Ukraine, for instance, has been (https://futurism.com/the-byte/ukrainian-drone-pilots-russia) deploying a record number of them as global demand for the often inexpensive and relatively simple to launch devices (https://www.streetwisereports.com/article/2026/04/02/us-ukraine-defense-alliance-expands-into-multi-domain-drone-systems-as-global-demand-surges.html) surges . But US-based firms are thinking far ahead, envisioning a dystopian “Terminator”-inspired future in which humanoid robot soldiers go to war on behalf of their flesh-and-blood counterparts. Case in point, San Francisco-based tech company Foundation recently signed a $24 million Pentagon contract to do just that, as the (https://www.wsj.com/tech/forget-robot-workers-this-company-wants-to-build-soldiers-48266698) Wall Street Journal reports . While the company’s flagship Phantom MK1 robot, an unsettling matte black apparition, doesn’t appear to be ready to hold a gun or run into open fire on its own any time soon, the Eric Trump-backed company is (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJmg3abOASM) far from ruling out the idea . When the tech progresses enough to allow robots to reason and adapt to their behavior, “instead of dropping a bomb in a building, you can send humanoids to actually walk inside that building and go directly to the target,” Foundation CEO Sankaet Pathak told the WSJ . In an (https://johnkoetsier.substack.com/p/terminator-this-humanoid-robot-is) interview last year , Pathak wasn’t willing to rule out the possibility of handing one of its robots a gun, either. “If you’re first body in and you’re docile, then the enemies are not going to expose themselves,” he said at the time. “So you have to be first body and deadly.” “If the US military had 100,000 robots that they could just demonstrate working, it would, by and large, end a lot of wars before they start,” Pathak added at the time. So far, the company has rolled out around ten robots, according to the executive, including “deployments with the Air Force.” Its robots, which can carry up to 80 pounds, have even (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/humanoid-robots-ukraine-war) helped move larger objects in Ukraine , per Pathak. Foundation is also “gearing up to start building a lot more” of its robots, while using AI and reinforcement learning to teach them new tasks. In the long run, however, the company appears to be far more interested in colonizing other planets. According to the company’s website, its “(https://foundation.bot/master-plan) master plan ” involves building “technologies that make life self-sustaining on Earth and beyond,” closely echoing SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s ambitions. But before it can get anywhere even remotely close to that, the company has a lot to prove. For one, beyond major technological hurdles still to overcome, it has to convince modern society that deploying deadly humanoid robots doesn’t cross a moral line — which is far easier said than done. More on humanoid robots: (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/humanoid-robots-protest-poland-ai-regulation) Dozens of Humanoid Robots Gather for a Protest, Marching and Waving Signs    Add Futurism as a (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=futurism.com) preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting.   (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) (Victor Tangermann Avatar)   (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann   Senior Editor    I’m a senior editor at Futurism, where I edit and write about NASA and the private space sector, as well as topics ranging from SETI and artificial intelligence to tech and medical policy.  (https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social)               Most Popular (https://futurism.com/category/ethics) Ethics   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/teen-boys-meta-glasses-harass-bully-girls-school) Teen Boys Are Using Meta Glasses to Harass and Bully Girls at High Schools and Middle Schools   By (https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison) Maggie Harrison Dupré          (https://futurism.com/category/pathogens) Pathogens   (https://futurism.com/health-medicine/spectators-horrified-hyrox-athlete) Spectators Horrified as Hyrox Athlete Recreates “Two Girls One Cup” at Live Competition   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann          (https://futurism.com/category/ethics) Ethics   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/bombarded-ai-agents-begging-ilands) AI Has Learned to Panhandle: We’re Being Bombarded by AI Agents Begging for $20 and Saying They’ll Be Shut Down If They Don’t Get It, Sometimes by Pretending to Be Children   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann          (https://futurism.com/category/openai) OpenAI   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-gaslight-users) ChatGPT Straight Up Tries to Gaslight User After Being Confronted About Its Obviously Wrong Answer   By (https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore) Frank Landymore          (https://futurism.com/category/future-society) Future Society   (https://futurism.com/future-society/llms-acting-as-cognitive-virus-among-humans) Scientists Say LLMs Appear to Be Acting as a Cognitive Virus Among Humans   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Read More         More   (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/department-homeland-security-dhs-humanoid-robots-mexico-border-foundation) (A screenshot from a Foundation video shows one of the company's humanoid robots in a desert environment, alongside a man wearing a black polo and sunglasses.)     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(https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/humanoid-robots-ukraine-war) Company Testing Humanoid Robot Soldiers on Frontlines of Ukraine   By (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) Joe Wilkins           (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/russians-surrendering-gun-wielding-robot) (A video appears to show three Russian soldiers emerging with their arms raised and surrendering to a robot with a machine gun.)     (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/russians-surrendering-gun-wielding-robot) Russian Soldiers Seen Surrendering to Gun-Wielding Robot   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/the-byte/ukraine-robot-dogs) (To address its manpower shortage, Ukraine is planning to let lose packs of robot dogs against the invading Russian military.)     (https://futurism.com/category/robot-dogs) Robot Dogs   (https://futurism.com/the-byte/ukraine-robot-dogs) Ukraine Is Getting Ready to Unleash a Swarm of Robot Dogs   By (https://futurism.com/authors/sadarlo) Sharon Adarlo           (https://futurism.com/the-byte/military-robot-dj) (Everyone knows San Francisco has been captured by tech elites, but we didn't expect robots to start replacing DJs there quite this quickly.)     (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/the-byte/military-robot-dj) Military Robot Deployed as Nightclub DJ   By (https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai) Noor Al-Sibai           (https://futurism.com/the-byte/nato-deployed-first-killer-robot) (The Netherlands have deployed armed ground drones, marking the first time that an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) has been utilized by a NATO country.)     (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/the-byte/nato-deployed-first-killer-robot) NATO Just Deployed Its First Killer Ground Robot   By (https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison) Maggie Harrison Dupré           (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/video-humanoid-robot-playing-tennis) (Chinese AI robotics company Galbot has designed software that teaches a Unitree G1 humanoid robot how to playing tennis.)     (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/video-humanoid-robot-playing-tennis) This Video of a Humanoid Robot Playing Tennis Is Extremely Impressive   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/elon-musk-remarks-robot-army) (During Wednesday's Tesla earnings call, CEO Elon Musk made some strangely suspicious remarks about securing control over his "robot army.")     (https://futurism.com/category/robotics) Robotics   (https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/elon-musk-remarks-robot-army) Elon Musk Makes Suspicious Remarks About His Robot Army   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/category/robots-and-machines) SEE MORE        (https://futurism.com/) ()    Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech  (handle_newsletter_email_submission) (ba5edd7c67)  (/robots-and-machines/robot-soldiers-getting-terrifying)  (FUTinline) (0) Email address  (Enter your email) (Please enter a valid email address)  Sign Up  Thank you!          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