Robot race

Thiel investments, humanoids, AI and jet-powered drones

Time to take a look at some new hardware.

Ukraine’s military industrial complex has been deepening its ties with the US and the rest of NATO. Ukrainian military exports were finally legalised this month, a Ukrainian drone company might get a major Pentagon contract, American companies have been selling humanoid robots and satellite imagery to the Ukrainian army, and Peter Thiel continues to invest the big bucks in German drone companies active in Ukraine.

Most importantly, Russia hasn’t been sitting idly while Ukraine attacks its logistics using the US-supplied Hornet drone. The Hornet’s power partly comes from its autonomous targeting technology, which makes it impossible to electronically jam when close. Ukrainian drone analysts have been increasingly noticing Russian drones with AI-targeting capacities deployed at the front. One new model also seems competitive with the Hornet in terms of price — Russia’s usual AI drone, the Lancet, cost around $40,000, much more expensive than the Hornet. But Russia is now installing AI targeting technology into the Molniya, which usually costs $300-1600 — much less than the $5000 Hornet.

The Geran, Russia’s long-range drone workhouse, is undergoing several important upgrades. First, its new jet engines put it far out of the range of Ukrainian interceptor drones. Second, Ukrainian analysts are increasingly noticing autonomous targeting features.