This Week in Dual-Use
NEWS
In AI news, Helsing is partnering with Mistral to develop LLMs for defence.
And so Europe enters the fray. Generative AI companies are realising that defence is quite a large market. Or perhaps they’re realising that geopolitical events are about to make defence an even bigger market. This is the right move for Mistral.
I previously wrote that OpenAI partnered with Anduril in December. Then last week Google quietly deleted its pledge not to design AI for weapons or surveillance. Mistral, like its competitors, is positioning itself where demand is growing fastest. Building LLMs for defence isn’t just smart, it’s essential.
There is, quite rightly, a lot to be excited about in European defencetech, and Mistral clearly wants a part of that. The French open-source AI company has a new model that’s maybe 10x faster than ChatGPT or Claude Sonnet.
If the US playbook is any guide, defence contracts could become a big lever for scaling AI capabilities. The big question is how long it takes for Europe’s industrial policy to catch up. I suspect that is about to change quite quickly.
In VR news, Anduril has taken over Microsoft’s $20bn US Army contract for XR headsets.
This will be unwelcome news for Mark Zuckerberg whose company, which he renamed from Facebook to Meta, is focused on the future of VR. He fired Luckey after Meta acquired Oculus. Now Luckey is back in the VR market, beating Zuckerberg to the largest government VR contract in history.
And so the narrative comes full circle. The VR pioneer ousted by Zuckerberg is now shaping the future of military XR. This isn’t just about headsets; it’s about who defines the next computing platform. If defence becomes the proving ground for XR, Meta could find itself on the outside looking in. The irony won’t be lost on Zuckerberg.
In drone news, Helsing unveiled its first factory in Germany to build 6,000 new autonomous strike drones to deliver to Ukraine, cementing the startup’s recent push into military hardware.
This marks a pivotal moment for Europe’s defence tech ecosystem. Autonomous drones are no longer the domain of Silicon Valley, they’re now a strategic European asset.
As war reshapes procurement priorities, Helsing is positioning itself at the intersection of AI and military hardware. The question is whether this is a one-off response to geopolitical urgency or the beginning of a sustained European defencetech renaissance. My bet is on the latter.
FUNDRAISING
Archer Aviation, a US-based developer of eVTOLs, which has recently pivoted from flying taxis to the defence market, raised $300m. The company went public via a SPAC in 2021.
K2 Space, a US-based developer of high-powered satellites, raised a $110m Series B round.
Dream, an Israel-based cybersecurity for governments and national organizations, raised a $100 million Series B round.
Lynk Global, a US-based developer of direct to smartphone satellite technology, has raised more than $85m in an ongoing Series B round.
Oso Semiconductor, a US-based developer of energy-efficient, high-performance microchips, raised a $5.2m Seed round.