Feb 7 (Reuters) - AI-powered defense startup Anduril

Industries is in talks for a new funding round that could hike

the valuation of the Palmer Luckey-founded company to $28

billion, sources said on Friday.

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is set to lead

the round, which could be as much as $2.5 billion, according to

the sources, signaling strong appetite from investors in this

fast-growing defense tech company. The round would come only

months after its last raise of $1.5 billion at a $14 billion

valuation in August.

Founders Fund has been a backer of Anduril since its start

in 2017, and one of Anduril's co-founders, Trae Stephens, is a

partner at the firm.

Founders Fund declined to comment on the funding, which was

first reported by CNBC.

Anduril, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, develops

autonomous weapons across a wide variety of sensors, including

drones. The company announced last month it plans to build a

large-scale weapons plant in central Ohio, as it uses funding to

invest building out manufacturing capabilities.

In 2023, the startup launched its Lattice for Mission

Autonomy, an AI-enabled software to collaborate with teams of

autonomous systems during missions under human supervision.

Before Anduril, Luckey is credited with founding virtual

reality company Oculus VR, which was acquired by Facebook in

2014 for $2.3 billion.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance invested in Anduril during his

previous career as a VC investor, and still hold stakes in the

company, according to his filings.

Thiel, who also co-founded military technology company

Palantir ( PLTR ), has been a longtime Republican donor,

including backing President Donald Trump's first successful run

in 2016 and Vance's run for Senate in 2022.