News/Drones
Swiss AI startup raises €114M to train robots using gaming data
Swiss AI startup General Intuition has raised €114 million in one of 2025's largest seed funding rounds, led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst with participation from Raine. The New York and Geneva-based company, spun off from Dutch video platform Medal, plans to bridge gaming data with real-world applications in robotics and drones, leveraging over 2 billion annual gameplay clips to train AI agents for both virtual and physical environments. What you should know: General Intuition emerged from Medal's extensive gaming content library, which processes nearly 1 billion video uploads annually from 10 million monthly active users. The startup uses...
read Oct 10, 2025Staples High School hosts Connecticut’s first drone programming competition
Staples High School will host its first-ever drone competition on February 21, drawing teams from across Connecticut and beyond to compete in autonomous drone programming challenges. The event marks a significant expansion for the school's RoboWreckers club, which is working to rebuild the competitive robotics program that placed second globally at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in 2009. What you should know: Students will program pre-assembled drones to navigate obstacle courses autonomously, tackling both standardized challenges and yearly mission objectives. Teams must guide drones through set obstacles like flying in figure-eight patterns or navigating through cubes, according to Tech...
read Oct 9, 2025Norwegian Army selects Six Robotics’ autonomous drone swarm system
The Norwegian Army has selected Six Robotics' Valkyrie autonomous drone swarm system for a pilot program focused on concept and technology development across multiple Army units. This contract marks a significant milestone in Norway's military modernization efforts, as armed forces worldwide increasingly integrate autonomous systems to maintain operational advantages in future combat environments. What you should know: The Valkyrie system represents Norway's strategic investment in next-generation warfare capabilities that prioritize speed and autonomy. The drone swarm will support training and exercises with advanced unmanned systems, preparing soldiers for combat environments defined by autonomous operations. Valkyrie provides scalable and intelligent swarm...
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Kim Jong Un declares AI “top priority” for North Korea’s military drone program
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared artificial intelligence a "top priority" for modernizing his military's weapons technology and expanding drone capabilities, according to state media reports. This announcement underscores North Korea's accelerating efforts to enhance its military arsenal through advanced technology, positioning the regime to potentially threaten US forces and allies in Northeast Asia from what intelligence officials describe as its "strongest strategic position in decades." What you should know: Kim presided over performance tests of multipurpose drones and unmanned surveillance vehicles during a visit to Pyongyang's Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex on Thursday. The North Korean leader emphasized...
read Sep 12, 2025DroneDeploy reaches break-even, raises $15M for autonomous job sites
DroneDeploy, a company that specializes in capturing real-world data using drones, has reached break-even profitability and secured $15 million in strategic funding to accelerate its AI and robotics capabilities. This milestone allows the reality capture company to reinvest all earnings into product development, positioning it to lead the transformation of construction sites, inspections, and drone operations through autonomous technology. What you should know: The break-even achievement marks a turning point for DroneDeploy after a decade of growth, setting it apart from competitors who struggled after the overfunded 2021 cycle. CEO and cofounder Mike Winn explained that "reaching break-even means we've...
read Aug 25, 2025ARX Robotics launches Combat Gereon, first AI combat drone for Ukraine
European defense company ARX Robotics has introduced the Combat Gereon, its first AI-powered combat unmanned ground vehicle developed in partnership with Ukrainian companies. The system represents a significant step toward "first unmanned contact" warfare, designed to perform high-risk missions and reduce soldier casualties on active battlefields. What you should know: The Combat Gereon combines proven robotics with AI-enabled autonomous functions specifically adapted for real combat conditions based on Ukrainian military feedback. The vehicle can carry payloads up to 500 kilograms and operate over distances of 40 kilometers. It performs reconnaissance, route clearance, and forward observation missions in high-risk areas. The...
read Aug 14, 2025GoPro creators can now earn 50% revenue from AI training footage. Here’s how to partake.
GoPro has built its reputation capturing extreme moments—mountain bikers bombing down alpine trails, surfers riding towering waves, and drone pilots weaving through forests at breakneck speeds. Now the action camera pioneer is offering creators a new way to monetize those adrenaline-fueled clips through an artificial intelligence training program that could transform user-generated content into steady revenue streams. The company recently launched an opt-in program allowing subscribers to license their cloud-stored footage to technology companies developing AI systems. Creators who participate receive 50% of the revenue GoPro collects from licensing deals, creating a potential income source from content that might otherwise...
read Aug 6, 2025Anduril opens Taiwan office to sell AI attack drones amid China tensions
US defense technology company Anduril is opening a Taiwan office and will sell AI-powered attack drones to the island nation, marking a significant expansion of American defense tech presence in the region. The move comes amid escalating tensions between Taiwan and China, as fears of a potential Chinese invasion continue to mount. Why this matters: Taiwan's strategic importance to US technological leadership makes its defense capabilities critical to American interests, particularly given the island's dominance in semiconductor manufacturing that powers AI development. What Anduril is saying: The company frames Taiwan's defense as essential to broader regional stability and American strategic...
read Aug 4, 2025AI helps Italian rescue team find missing hiker after 11 months
Italy's National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) used artificial intelligence to locate the body of a missing hiker after nearly 11 months, analyzing 2,600 drone images in just one afternoon to spot his helmet among the mountainous terrain. The breakthrough demonstrates how AI-powered search and rescue operations can dramatically reduce recovery times from weeks or months of manual analysis to hours, potentially saving lives in future mountain emergencies. How it worked: The rescue team deployed drones across a 183-hectare area on the north face of Monviso, Italy's highest peak in the Cottian Alps, capturing thousands of aerial images from...
read Jul 22, 2025DroneDeploy’s Progress AI turns drone photos into instant construction reports
DroneDeploy has launched Progress AI, an artificial intelligence tool that analyzes drone imagery and 360-degree photos to generate instant construction progress reports. The AI tool transforms routine aerial mapping into premium analytics services, calculating completion percentages for every trade and floor in minutes rather than the days typically required for manual progress tracking. What you should know: Progress AI processes existing drone maps and 360-degree panoramas to create color-coded progress reports without requiring BIM model alignment or manual heat map creation. The system answers voice or chat queries like "How far along is Level 4 drywall?" by reading its "photographic...
read Jul 2, 2025Stanford AI system turns text prompts into coordinated drone shows
Stanford and University of Zaragoza researchers have developed Gen-Swarms, an AI system that automates the complex planning process for drone light shows using simple text prompts. The breakthrough could democratize drone displays by eliminating the need for specialized engineering teams to manually plot each drone's movement frame by frame, potentially expanding applications beyond entertainment into search and rescue, construction, and space exploration. Why this matters: Current drone shows require painstaking manual programming where engineers chart the path of every single drone individually, limiting these displays to large companies with specialized expertise and significant resources. How it works: The AI system...
read Jul 2, 2025A Working (AI) Man: DroneDeploy’s Safety tech spots construction violations with 95% accuracy
DroneDeploy has launched Safety AI, a generative AI tool that analyzes daily construction site imagery to identify OSHA safety violations with claimed 95% accuracy. The technology represents a significant advancement over traditional object detection methods, using visual language models to "reason" about safety conditions rather than simply recognizing objects like ladders or hard hats. Why this matters: Construction remains the most dangerous industry for fatal workplace accidents, with over 1,000 workers dying annually in the US from slips, trips, and falls—highlighting the urgent need for better safety monitoring solutions. How it works: Safety AI uses visual language models (VLMs) to...
read Jun 27, 2025Franck Saudo interview: Safran deploys AI-powered weapons in weeks, not years
Safran Electronics & Defense CEO Franck Saudo outlined how modern warfare is driving demand for agile defense technologies, emphasizing the company's rapid deployment capabilities and AI-powered solutions during an interview at the Paris Air Show. The insights reveal how Europe's largest military optronics supplier is adapting to battlefield transformations seen from Syria to Ukraine, where traditional defense approaches are being challenged by drone swarms, electronic warfare, and cost-efficiency demands. The big picture: Modern conflicts have fundamentally altered defense requirements, creating what Saudo calls a "transformation of the defense demand" that requires both reinforced protection of existing assets and entirely new...
read Jun 25, 2025Europe worries of being left behind in tech as US, Russia and China AI clout hovers like drones
European NATO allies are growing increasingly concerned about falling behind in the artificial intelligence arms race as the United States shifts its focus from Russia to China. This strategic pivot has left European nations questioning their ability to compete in AI-powered warfare, particularly as they face immediate security threats from Russia while lacking the advanced AI capabilities that could define future conflicts. The big picture: Europe finds itself caught between immediate security needs and long-term technological competition, with limited access to frontier AI systems that could reshape modern warfare. While European countries excel at incorporating existing AI technologies into surveillance...
read Jun 19, 2025Eye in the stinky sky: AI drones detect methane leaks ahead of 2026 EPA rules
Percepto, a company specializing in autonomous inspection technology, has launched an AI-powered emission detection system that uses autonomous drones to identify methane leaks in real-time across major US oil-producing regions. The technology addresses growing regulatory pressure and operational challenges by making emissions tracking faster and more cost-effective for energy operators, particularly as new EPA rules take effect in 2026. How it works: The system combines autonomous drones with AI-powered analysis to detect methane emissions without human intervention. Drones fly scheduled missions capturing Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) video footage across oil and gas facilities. Percepto's AI algorithm analyzes the footage in...
read Jun 9, 2025MIT AI enables drones to adapt to wind without prior training
MIT researchers have developed an AI-powered control system that enables autonomous drones to automatically adapt to unpredictable disturbances like gusty winds without requiring advance knowledge of these conditions. The breakthrough system uses meta-learning to simultaneously learn from flight data and select the optimal adaptation algorithm, achieving 50% less trajectory tracking error than existing methods in simulations. How it works: The system replaces traditional control functions with a neural network that learns to approximate disturbances from just 15 minutes of flight data. Instead of relying on pre-programmed knowledge about wind patterns, the AI model automatically determines which optimization algorithm from the...
read Mar 28, 2025North Korea unveils AI-equipped suicide drones amid deepening Russia ties
North Korea's revelation of AI-equipped suicide attack drones represents a significant escalation in the hermit kingdom's military technology ambitions and reflects the strategic benefits of its deepening alliance with Russia. The development of autonomous weapons by one of the world's most isolated regimes raises alarming questions about proliferation of AI warfare capabilities among authoritarian states and potential destabilization of the already tense Korean peninsula. The big picture: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected what state media claims are AI-equipped suicide attack drones, signaling Pyongyang's advancement into autonomous weapons technology. Kim reportedly approved plans to expand production of these...
read Mar 19, 2025AI-powered drones could make conventional military tactics obsolete, just like guerrilla warfare did
The ongoing evolution of military technology mirrors historical patterns of warfare adaptation, with AI-powered drones potentially representing the next major battlefield paradigm shift. Just as continental forces gained advantages over conventional British tactics during the Revolutionary War through guerrilla strategies, today's militaries face a similar technological inflection point. Understanding how emerging drone technologies might reshape conflict dynamics is critical for military planners, defense contractors, and policymakers navigating an increasingly complex security landscape. The historical parallel: Revolutionary War tactics demonstrated how unconventional approaches could overcome superior military forces relying on traditional battlefield methods. British forces, despite having "the best trained and...
read Mar 17, 2025American-made HELIUS drone challenges DJI with rugged sub-250-gram design
The American drone market is witnessing a significant shift as Ascent AeroSystems introduces HELIUS, a sub-250-gram drone challenging DJI's longstanding dominance in the lightweight category. This AI-powered coaxial nano drone targets public safety, emergency response, and industrial applications with robust features and NDAA compliance—offering a premium alternative for organizations with security concerns or those requiring enhanced durability in mission-critical environments. The big picture: Ascent AeroSystems is entering the competitive sub-250-gram drone market with HELIUS, an American-made alternative to DJI's popular Mini series that emphasizes ruggedness and security compliance. HELIUS maintains the lightweight classification at 249 grams while incorporating enterprise-grade durability...
read Mar 13, 2025See-through power: Air Force engineer leverages AI to detect unexploded munitions with drones
Air Force engineer Randall Pietersen is developing innovative drone-based systems to transform dangerous airfield assessments, potentially saving lives and time in military operations. His MIT research combines hyperspectral imaging with machine learning to detect unexploded munitions—a challenge that has stymied previous drone systems which struggle to distinguish ordnance from rocks and debris. This work leverages increasingly affordable and durable hyperspectral technology that captures electromagnetic radiation across broad wavelengths, with applications extending beyond military contexts to agriculture, emergency response, and infrastructure assessment. The big picture: Pietersen's research addresses a critical military safety challenge after experiencing firsthand the dangers of conventional airfield...
read Feb 21, 2025This AI-powered wireless tree network detects and autonomously suppresses wildfires
The threat of forest fires has grown significantly over the past two decades, with annual tree cover loss from fires increasing by 5.4% each year since 2001. Dryad Network has developed an autonomous wildfire detection and response system that combines AI-powered sensors with firefighting drones to address this escalating challenge. System Overview: Dryad's Silvanet creates a self-sustaining forest monitoring network that operates independently of traditional mobile networks. Solar-powered sensors are installed beneath the tree canopy to detect smoke and distinguish it from other emissions like vehicle exhaust The system uses a mesh network infrastructure that enables sensors to communicate even...
read Feb 10, 2025AI transforms agriculture across Africa and beyond, from language translation to drones
The agricultural sector is undergoing significant transformation through artificial intelligence applications, particularly in developing regions like Africa where farming challenges are acute. While much attention focuses on AI advancement in major economies, practical AI implementations in agriculture are creating meaningful impact in food security and sustainable farming practices. Current State of Agricultural AI: Traditional farming faces multiple challenges including disease management, weather unpredictability, and resource limitations, particularly in developing regions where these issues directly impact global food security. In Ghana, recent cocoa crop diseases have demonstrated how agricultural challenges can affect both local economies and global supply chains Farmers in...
read Feb 6, 2025Super Bowl boosts security with AI and facial recognition, restricts drones
Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans is implementing advanced security measures following a recent New Year's Day attack, combining artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and traditional security methods to protect the estimated 100,000 visitors. Security overview and context; The Department of Homeland Security has designated Super Bowl LIX as a Level 1 Special Event, requiring extensive federal interagency support and enhanced security protocols. NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier expressed confidence in the comprehensive security plan, which has been reassessed following the January attack State police will maintain an enhanced security zone around both the French Quarter and Caesars Superdome from...
read Feb 4, 2025Marine Corps gives wings to AI in new aviation strategy
The Marine Corps has released a new aviation strategy emphasizing autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and a shift in F-35 fighter procurement to modernize its air combat capabilities. Strategic overview: The 2025 Marine Corps Aviation Plan introduces "Project Eagle," a comprehensive modernization initiative focused on enhancing operational readiness and combat effectiveness through advanced technologies. The plan, signed by Lt. Gen. Bradford Gering, marks the service's first aviation strategy update in three years Project Eagle emphasizes the integration of AI-driven software, autonomous systems, and drones to ensure aircraft survivability in contested environments Col. Derek Brannon highlighted the plan's focus on rapid response...
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