In June, the U.S. Air Force awarded a production contract to Shield AI to implement its Hivemind mission autonomy software for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, pictured here. In August, the company announced a successful field demonstration of the software for a coordinated autonomous search mission with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. [Image: Shield AI]

Defense tech firm Shield AI said it completed a live drone swarm exercise in Taiwan in which three Taiwanese-built drones flew a coordinated search mission under its Hivemind AI software instead of human pilots.

It’s the latest milestone for the company, which has a manufacturing facility in Frisco and is fast becoming one of the top defense technology companies in the U.S.

“You can build 10 million drones, but you can’t train 10 million drone pilots. Autonomy is the critical enabling technology to effectively leverage drones on the battlefield,” Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s president and co-founder, said in a statement. “Hivemind’s ability to enable autonomous teaming is why autonomy is becoming one of the most important force multipliers in modern defense.”

Inside the hive

The Hivemind software is designed to pilot drones and other autonomous vehicles and robots. Shield AI’s manufacturing facility in Frisco — known as the “Batcave”— is where the company builds and tests its systems, including the V-BAT drone, and develops its AI software.

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is based in San Diego and has offices and facilities across the world. The company has seen its profile rise as the use of artificial intelligence in military operations has expanded. It was one of several defense tech companies to meet with the Department of Defense in June, the Washington Post reported, as the U.S. conflict with Iran depleted U.S. weapons stocks. Shield AI didn’t reply to requests for comment from Dallas Innovates.

Business growth

The demonstration earlier this month led to an expansion of the contract Shield AI signed in February with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, known as NCSIST, to integrate Hivemind into the institute’s unmanned systems, the company said in a press release. NCSIST engineers built the AI pilots themselves and put them on three of the institute’s Mighty Hornet III drones in less than three months, working alongside Shield AI engineers embedded at the institute.

In March, Shield AI raised $1.5 billion from investors at a $12.7 billion valuation. At the time of the deal, the company was seeking to expand its Hivemind software and acquire flight simulation company Aechelon Technology.

Shield AI has worked with Ukraine’s armed forces to train on its autonomous drones, and the company has contracts with Japan, the Netherlands, and the European Border and Coast Guard for its V-BAT drone, which is used for intelligence gathering. And in May, the company signed an agreement with the Pentagon to use Hivemind on low-cost, uncrewed combat attack systems, known as LUCAS drones.

The company has faced scrutiny over its technology. In June, Reuters reported a V-BAT drone had injured a Romanian Navy official during a test exercise off the Texas coast in May, reportedly the second incident involving serious injury during a V-BAT test. Shield AI told Reuters that “operational mishaps are common” for such drones, defended its safety record and attributed the May incident to a violation of safety procedures.

Demand has continued to build, and the company’s drones continue to impress U.S. officials. During a visit to Armenia in February, Vice President JD Vance announced the sale of $11 million in U.S. surveillance and drone technology, including V-BAT drones. It was the first major U.S. military technology sale to the country.

“We’re excited about this, Vance said. “It’s going to do great things for you guys.”

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