The post was originally published in Russian on Startup of the Day. Alexander kindly agreed to republish what we think is of great value to our readers.
In Star Wars-type sci-fi movies, space jets are piloted by people. They promptly dodge torpedoes on warp speed, switch the power shield on and off, and shoot lazers. Our grandchildren won’t understand it, manual piloting on interstellar ships will be as absurd for them as rowers and paddles.
Shield AI, the American startup of the day, approaches us to the actual, not cinematic future. Its product is the fighter autopilot for drones and planes. It can pilot a real F16 (apparently in simulations, not in the field) and seems to win 90% of one-on-one combats with living pilots – hopefully, also in simulation.
The startup produces drones for its AI itself. They look neat in videos. The technical specs are Greek to me, but what definitely catches the eye is the claim to fly even where GPS isn’t available.
Pentagon is Shield AI’s only potential client, but investors believe in its financial standing. The startup has already brought in more than USD 500M, and its valuation in its latest round was over USD 2B.
#hardware #ai #usa #megaround #unicorn
Translation: Kostiantyn Tupikov
Kostiantyn is a freelance writer from Crimea but based in Lviv. He loves writing about IT and high tech because those topics are always upbeat and he’s an inherent optimist!
