Drone Tech has a Drone Swarm Incentive to Get Better in 2023
Skydio's funding is a dark omen.
Welcome Back, (or should I say welcome to the first issue)
I wanted to cover a huge drone startup funding round, because in 2023 due to the Ukraine invasion and impending potential invasion of Taiwan, Drone Swarms will be the key.
US military plan to create huge autonomous drone swarms sparks concern
The AMASS project would involve thousands of drones, on the ground, in the air and in the water, working together in a "swarm of swarms" to overwhelm enemy defences. China is likely already doing this military tech since DJI is such a global leader. It’s hard to emphasize how much ahead China is in drone-tech, facial recognition and related A.I. technologies with military applications.
A new Pentagon project envisages automated, coordinated attacks by swarms of many types of drones that operate in the air, on the ground and in the water. The idea is raising concerns about whether human oversight of such a “swarm of swarms” would be possible.
The Autonomous Multi-Domain Adaptive Swarms-of-Swarms (AMASS) is a project from US defence research agency DARPA.
So what does this have to do with Venture Capital?
I think Skydio is the name to watch. Why so? The February 27th, 2023 funding is why. Skydio announced a $230 million Series E fundraising round and the construction of a new manufacturing facility in America. The company says it’s seen a 30x growth over the last three years and is now the largest drone manufacturer in the United States.
Skydio vs. DJI?
It will take many years and a miracle for any U.S. maker of drones to challenge DJI. DJI was formed in 2006 out of a college dorm room by its founder Frank Wang. The company currently has over 14,000 employees, 25% of which are research and development-based. I believe it’s very implicated in the PLA’s strategy.
China leads the world in autonomous weapons in my opinion, whether that’s A.I. fighter pilots or more nefarious and targeted uses of killer drones, that are still legal. In no part thanks to the United States and their use of them. But these killer robots will get more dangerous thanks to the A.I. arms race.
Unmanned systems with a variable degree of autonomy, generally known as ‘drones,’ have become commonplace in the world’s advanced militaries. The Ukraine invasion is changing the battlefield of the future.
Think about it, how do you defend a pack of highly maneuverable, fast, and autonomous killer drones?
Forget AGI, how about those killer robots eh?
Of course Skydio is not about any of that, right. Right? The Series E round was led by Linse Capital, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Next47, IVP, DoCoMo, Nvidia, the Walton Family Foundation and UP.Partners. Hercules Capital, and Axon, the company behind the Taser and police body cameras, also invested in Skydio.
Drone startup Skydio locked up a $230 million Series E at a $2.2 billion valuation — more than double its valuation from just two years ago.
DJI is just one of many tech companies that has found its products used on the battlefield. If China decides to supply Russia, it’s game over for the AI arms race around drones and drone swarms. I’m not an optimistic about the outcomes of ADI, or artificial drone intelligence, that is how drones become better and better in swarms.
I can mock AGI with an ADI acronym that’s entirely made, up, but it’s a real concern. It if concerns me, an indie reporter (that’s barely read), perhaps it should concern the higherups?
Swarm technology can get dangerous for the future of military conflicts very fast.