Who Is Sankaet Pathak? How Indian-Origin Businessman’s Startup Secured A $24M Pentagon Contract to Build Humanoid Robot Soldiers Alongside Eric Trump

The Defense Department has awarded a multi-million dollar military contract to a robotics firm linked to President Donald Trump’s son Eric, in what some Democrats have denounced as “corruption in plain sight”. Silicon Valley start-up Foundation Future Industries, which is developing humanoids, won the $24 million contract to test its “Phantom” robot with the Marines.

Pentagon Awards $24 Million Robotics Contract to Firm Owned By Indian-Origin Businessman

The company’s founder and CEO, Sankaet Pathak appeared alongside Eric, chief strategy advisor at Foundation, on the network’s Mornings with Maria on Thursday to discuss the technology and other developments in China.

“America first. We got to win this race,” Eric, 42, said Thursday. “We better be winning this race in the United States of America. We’re the greatest economy in the world.” On Tuesday, April 21, the Defense Department announced its request for fiscal 2027, which includes a request for $55 billion for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, which develops and tests military robotics with artificial intelligence. The overall $1.5 trillion budget request is the biggest ever for the Pentagon.

Sankaet Pathak’s Foundation Future Industries Wins US Military Deal

According to reports, it will be first used in Ukraine to lift dangerous transport boxes. Pathak and Eric Trump this week broadcast on television the technology’s “unlimited” applications in military, industrial, and even hospitality industries.

Chief strategic adviser and funder Trump described the robots as force multipliers. But their collaboration has also invited suspicion, as a member of the family of a sitting US president is directly involved in securing millions of dollars in military contracts, amid rampant corruption stories emanating from Washington DC.

As a newly minted defense entrepreneur, Pathak casts Foundation as part of the “robotics race with China” in which he sees the US and its allies engaged. His ties with the Trump family – and the administration’s “Pax Silica” plan to tighten sourcing networks between friendly nations – has established his position in the patriotic tech cohort, despite criticism of the pace and scope of his revival.

Foundation Industries’ success is symptomatic of the rise of the “patriotic tech” movement, as coined by Jacob Helberg and Alex Karp. Helberg, now the Under Secretary of State, mapped the theory in his book The Wires of War, which argues that technology is the new non-kinetic battleground.

Who is Sankaet Pathak?

Sankaet Pathak is an Indian entrepreneur, first known as the founder and CEO of Synapse, a fintech start-up in the United States that offered banking infrastructure and API services to other financial institutions. Established in 2014, Synapse sought to streamline financial integration services such as payments, deposits and loans for business users.

Pathak became known in the global fintech community for partnering with banks and startups to enable digital finance services. But Synapse encountered financial difficulties and operational issues, causing regulatory concerns and problems for its partners and customers.

A graduate of engineering, Pathak migrated to the US and joined the fintech boom, where he worked on infrastructure and not consumer-facing platforms. As the CEO of Synapse, Pathak was involved in discussions about fintech regulation, risk, and the sustainability of banking-as-a-service providers. His journey highlights both the growth and challenges of new financial technology companies.

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