Autonomous Systems

An AI took on a human pilot in a DARPA-sponsored dogfight

Last September's tests are informing the Air Force’s effort to build autonomous drones.

  • Audrey Decker

The Pentagon is already testing tomorrow’s AI-powered swarm drones, ships

DOD pulled off unmanned amphibious landings, self-coding drones, and more just in the last year. What's next?

  • Patrick Tucker

US Navy to Test AI-Powered Virtual Assistant for Crews

Sailors with tech problems at sea will soon be able to chat with a new AI.

  • Patrick Tucker

Libya’s UAV Strike Should Galvanize Efforts to Do Something About Autonomous Weapons

Thorny definitional questions aren’t going to get easier, but the time to settle them has come.

  • Arthur Holland Michel

US Army Tests Autonomous Vehicle in Maryland

Researchers aim to better understand how the self-moving machines respond to real-world challenges.

  • Brandi Vincent

Here’s the Key Innovation in DARPA AI Project: Ethics From the Start

A new effort to build patrol drones for urban fights began by forming an ethics advisory board.

  • Paulina Glass

Project Maven Overseer Will Lead Pentagon’s New AI Center

DOD rewards three-star with the lead on its new AI-development center.

  • Patrick Tucker

China Shows Off Self-Steering Boat that Fires Missiles

But the U.S. still appears to have the edge in sophisticated seagoing drones.

  • Paulina Glass and Patrick Tucker

US Military’s Self-Flying Helicopter Program Passes Critical Test

Unmanned Black Hawks are coming. The goal is a major flight demonstration next year.

  • Patrick Tucker

DARPA Wants to Find Botnets Before They Attack

The defense agency awarded a contract to develop a tool that scours the internet for dormant online armies.

  • Jack Corrigan

China’s Robot Subs Will Lean Heavily on AI: Report

The leader of the classified 912 Project gives a rare interview. The question, as always, is why.

  • Paulina Glass

The US Navy Is Developing Mothership Drones for Coastal Defense

The service is looking to accelerate the way it buys, builds and drills drones and robotic ships.

  • Patrick Tucker