With massive funding round and $31 billion valuation, Anduril is nearing the size of defense industry giants it wants to displace

Defense company Anduril, which builds autonomous drones, virtual reality headsets, and other AI-powered technologies for the U.S. military and its allies, said it had closed an oversubscribed $2.5 billion funding round on Thursday.

The new funding round, which has more than doubled the company’s valuation to $30.5 billion, was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, which invested $1 billion in the round—the fund’s largest check ever, according to the firm. 

The fundraise marks...