This Week in Dual-Use
NEWS
Not strictly dual-use but interesting to see that a Chinese lab has released a “reasoning” large language model (a model which fact-checks itself). This was something that Open AI only achieved in September 2024. It’s probably fair to say that the US policy of restricting Chinese access to US designed semiconductors has not achieved its goal of hampering their progress in AI. This shouldn’t be a surprise but somehow it still is a surprise to see that they are just as advanced in generative AI as the top Western companies. (LINK)
Vatn Systems, a Rhode Island-based manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles, raised $13m in a Seed round. The fact that the company wants to create autonomous underwater swarms is a sign of things to come in maritime power projection. The future of navies may lie less in strategic blue water assets and more in lower cost high-volume autonomous technology. We are seeing this approach meet with success in Ukraine, and we are at the very beginning of the technology development. It is much harder to do underwater (communication through water is hard), so there have been relatively few companies tackling this - the exception being Anduril. I expect this space will get more competitive soon. (LINK)
In another indication that automation is everywhere, the US Air Force has ordered more robot wingmen for its experimentation unit, to understand how it might use them in a potential fight. Where previously these wingmen have only been considered in a supportive role, we are now seeing a progression to using them in a kinetic engagement. To me this feels like a natural progression, and we may end up in a world where wingmen take on wingmen, overseen by their human-piloted commanders, in a latterday version of single combat. (LINK)
NASA is investigating laser-beam welding in a vacuum for in-space manufacturing. The idea is to test whether it’s possible to make these kinds of repairs on the moon. This would be a step towards sending astronauts to Mars, which we may want to colonise in the future. It also allows for lower-cost capability development in space by enabling more assembly (and repair) in space, rather than on Earth followed by launch into space. As the battle for advantage in space continues, this is a point on the scorecard of the US. (LINK)
FUNDRAISING
Skydio, a Calofornia-based company that designs and manufactures drones that use AI for autonomous flight, raised a $170m Series E extension. (LINK)
TEKEVER, a Portugal-based manufacturer of AI-centric Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), raised €70m in a funding round which included NSSIF and NATO Innovation Fund. (LINK)
GEMYSYS, a Germany-based manufacturer of AI hardware for edge devices, raised €8.6m Pre-Seed round. (LINK)
Aerovironment, a leading manufacturer of UAS, will acquire Blue Halo, a company focused on the cutting edge of defence tech research, for $4.1bn. (LINK)