Defense-tech company Anduril Industries‘ founder, Palmer Luckey, proved that a startup could challenge traditional defense contractors by building cutting-edge military hardware. XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira says the next chapter of defense technology could be won somewhere else.

Rather than competing to manufacture every drone, robot and autonomous system, the bigger opportunity lies in building what Shapira calls the “Android of robotics”—a software platform that connects hardware from countless manufacturers into a single AI-powered operating system.

A Different Vision From Anduril

Shapira is quick to credit Anduril for reshaping investor perceptions of the defense industry.

“Palmer Luckey proved that a venture-backed company could outperform the traditional primes,” he told Benzinga in an exclusive email interview, helping establish defense as “a real technology category instead of a niche.”

But that’s where the similarities end.

While Anduril has built its business around vertically integrated hardware, platforms and manufacturing, XTEND is pursuing what Shapira describes as a fundamentally different strategy. “We’re building XTEND as a software layer that sits on top of everyone else’s hardware,” he said. “Think of XTEND as the Android of robotics, harnessing AI-powered task-based ‘skills’ across countless third-party platforms, payloads and command-and-control systems.”

Rather than competing with drone manufacturers, XTEND aims to enable them.

That approach, Shapira argues, leaves the company with “very few direct competitors” because it is focused on making different robotic systems work together instead of replacing them.

Why Software May Capture More Value

The strategy reflects a broader belief about where long-term value in defense technology will ultimately reside.

“The operating system layer is where the durable value sits,” Shapira said, drawing a parallel with the smartphone industry, where operating systems became as strategically important as the devices themselves.

That philosophy also shapes how XTEND views the future of military AI.

While companies often focus on building more powerful hardware, Shapira argues software remains the bigger challenge. Modern defense systems must continue operating in GPS-denied environments, degraded communications and other battlefield conditions where reliability matters more than raw processing power.

A Different Kind of AI Arms Race

Shapira says the companies that define the next generation of defense technology won’t necessarily be those manufacturing the most drones. Instead, they’ll be the ones connecting hardware, AI models and battlefield data into a unified ecosystem.

It’s why XTEND is betting that the future of defense resembles smartphones more than traditional weapons manufacturing. Hardware will continue to matter, but the companies controlling the software layer—the “Android of robotics”—could ultimately capture the industry’s most durable competitive advantage.

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