Artificial intelligence is capable of piloting a fighter jet. And it’s already being used in active combat. But, how?
What’s happening:
- San Diego, California based defense technology company Shield AI has raised $500M USD in a new Series F financing round through a mixture of both equity and debt
- The debt portion of the financing round was led by Hercules Capital
The big idea:
- Shield AI has built an innovative technology called Hivemind which is able to leverage artificial intelligence to pilot planes in combat situations
- Similar to self driving car technology, Hivemind is aircraft agnostic and is capable of operating multiple different types of military grade aircraft
- Hivemind reacts in real time to the battlefield and does not require GPS or waypoints in order to make decisions
By the numbers:
- Hivemind has been operating aircraft in the battlefield since 2018
- Shield AI's Series F financing round, which saw participation from the United States Innovative Technology Fund, Riot Ventures, Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and others, was done at a $2.7B USD valuation
Going deeper:
- Hivemind is already operational and actively is used to fly F-16 fighter jets and vertical takeoff and landing drones
- The technology built by Shield AI is actively being used by the United States Department of Defense and military allies of the United States
The intrigue:
- Shield AI has accumulated more flying hours practicing autonomous fighter jet manoeuvres than any other company in the world
