Hivemind Enterprise permits the event of autonomous operations in GPS-denied environments. Supply: Defend AI
Defend AI, a supplier of autonomy software program and protection plane, yesterday introduced that it has accomplished an F-1 strategic funding spherical of $240 million, bringing the corporate’s valuation to $5.3 billion.
San Diego, Calif.-based Defend AI mentioned it plans to make use of the funds to broaden the deployment of its Hivemind Enterprise platform to OEMs, governments, and corporations to allow them to present autonomy to the bigger robotics and drone industrial base.
“Creating autonomy is each advanced and expensive,” famous Nathan Michael, chief know-how officer of Defend AI. “Hivemind Enterprise solves this broadly identified downside and permits the fast and environment friendly proliferation of resilient, high-performance autonomy for clever machines throughout industries. Hivemind Enterprise is about supercharging the economic base to construct and monetize autonomy, enabling a world of tens of millions of autonomous programs within the subsequent 10 years.”
Based in 2015, Defend AI mentioned it’s a venture-backed deep-technology firm with the mission of defending service members and civilians with clever, autonomous programs. Its merchandise embody Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Hivemind Pilot, Hivemind Commander, and Hivemind Forge—in addition to V-BAT drones and the Sentient Imaginative and prescient Programs wide-area movement imaging software program.
The firm mentioned its know-how actively helps U.S. and allied operations worldwide. It has places of work in San Diego, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., in addition to Abu Dhabi within the United Arab Emirates; Kyiv, Ukraine; and Melbourne, Australia.
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Hivemind Enterprise accelerates autonomy, says Defend AI
Hivemind Enterprise is an autonomy software program suite for builders and organizations constructing, testing, evaluating, and deploying autonomy for clever machines. Defend AI claimed that it will probably speed up improvement by “delivering a multi-year head begin with platform merchandise, AI-powered toolsets, and leveraging Defend AI’s confirmed edge autonomy.”
The Hivemind Enterprise product suite contains an built-in “autonomy manufacturing facility,” industrial-grade middleware, an autonomy catalog, and mission management. The corporate mentioned it empowers builders to construct and personal their mission-ready autonomous programs with pace and adaptability.
“The identical instruments that make up Hivemind Enterprise have already enabled Defend AI to autonomously fly F-16s, MQ-20s, MQM-178s, function V-BATs in GPS- and communications-denied environments, and have quadcopters discover buildings and tunnels for U.S. and Israeli forces,” acknowledged Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Defend AI. “Partnerships with strategics like L3 Harris and Hanwha Aerospace additional speed up efforts to proliferate resilient autonomy.”
This week, Defend AI efficiently demonstrated its Hivemind software program flying a Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-20 Avenger drone throughout a February Orange Flag train. The businesses mentioned the demo marks the primary in a sequence of a number of autonomous flights deliberate for this 12 months.
“This flight showcased how superior autonomous programs can seamlessly function on open-architecture platforms with out vendor lock, making certain warfighters have entry to the most effective mission autonomy options out there,” mentioned Mike Atwood, vice chairman of superior packages at GA-ASI.
“We partnered with Defend AI to deliver confirmed autonomy experience and a shared dedication to delivering cutting-edge capabilities for the warfighter,” he added. “GA-ASI is constructing an open platform that helps these sorts of trade collaborations, which is essential to accelerating the way forward for autonomous aviation and making certain mission-ready autonomy options.”
A GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger drone, which demonstrated the Hivemind autonomy software program final month. Supply: Defend AI
L3 Harris collaborates, invests in autonomy
Defend AI’s financing was accomplished with main participation from strategic traders L3Harris and Hanwha Aerospace, in addition to participation from current traders together with Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Revolutionary Know-how, and Washington Harbour.
“The necessity for superior autonomy has by no means been extra pressing, and Defend AI is proving that autonomy at scale will not be solely doable however inevitable,” mentioned Christopher E. Kubasik, chair and CEO of L3Harris. “Their dedication to pushing the boundaries of AI-driven autonomy aligns with our Trusted Disruptor technique, the place we companion to speed up the supply of AI-enabled options and rising applied sciences to fulfill our clients’ wants sooner and extra effectively.”
Defend AI additionally famous a number of profitable milestones in 2024 and up to date know-how integrations equivalent to mission autonomy work with L3Harris.