Ten years ago, when Ryan Tseng founded his San Diego company, Shield AI, people couldn’t even say the name. He was often badly pronounced like Shield “Al”, said Tseng.
Now, this name is not only well known to investors and international governments, it represents local defense technology that is about $ 5.3 billion.
The company is developing the software called “Hivemind” which feeds the “pilots” of artificial intelligence for military aircraft, and it manufactures its own drones which steal yourself called V-Bats.
The words artificial intelligence could be on the lips of every day, but Tseng said that AI was still a concept of “fringe” in 2015. Since then, he said that there had been “a complete transformation” in the way in which the venture capital approach the scene of flourishing defense technology.
Tseng, an experienced technological entrepreneur, founded the company alongside his brother Brandon, who served seven years in the US Navy. The third co-founder, Andrew Reiter, worked on one of Draper Lab’s robotic guidance systems.
“Ten years ago, the Silicon Valley had turned its back on the defense sector,” said Tseng, who is the CEO of Shield AI. “It was difficult to get meetings. We only made anyone made a check to us. Everyone thought we were crazy. ”
Tseng explained that the shield problem shield is trying to solve is the fact that “the battlefield changes quickly” and that it requires 100 or 1,000 times more planes and weapons than wars in the past, which is obvious in the war in Ukraine, he said. The challenge is that the increase in firepower also requires that more people serve in the army and operate these systems.
“The only way that will work is if we introduce autonomy,” said Tseng. “Autonomy is what allows people we have to control a very large number of systems, to bring (more labor) to the battlefield and also to ensure that it is effective in achieving objectives.”
Earlier this month, SHIELD IA reported $ 240 million in a FUND FUNCTION ROOM in the F series led by L3HARRIS strategic investors, a defense technology giant and a South Korean company Hanwha Asset Management. The latest investment will help protect the specialized talent rental AI, such as engineers, to help evolve its company software platform, Hivemind. The financing of the F series generally targets more prosperous companies that seek to develop.
Christopher Kubasik, president and CEO of L3harris, said in the announcement that the Shield has to push the limits of autonomy led by AI aligns about his business strategy to accelerate artificial intelligence solutions to respond more quickly to customer needs.
“The need for advanced autonomy has never been so urgent, and Shield Ia proves that large -scale autonomy is not only possible but inevitable,” said Kubasik.
Shield AI said it currently had around 950 employees worldwide, most of whom are distributed in its head office in San Diego and its manufacturing site in Dallas.
Shield AI said that his software had been validated in real world situations and applied to military planes such as F-16, MQ-20, MQM-178, V-Bats and Quadcopters. The company’s software allows unmanned planes to operate in environments without GPS or available communications.
Evolution is the main objective of the company at the moment. Tseng said Shield AI wishes to overeat the development of AI planes by other companies via Hivemind, similar to the way Android and iOS operating systems have accelerated the development of mobile applications.
Although the major agreements and the distinctions of reception are great, Tseng stressed that it must ultimately propel the work of Shield AI.
For example, last year, Shield IA was appointed finalist of the prestigious collar trophy, which recognizes the greatest success of aeronautics or astronautics in America. The former winners include the Wright Brothers, the team behind the first plane to break the sound barrier and the first landing of the moon in 1969.
“It was good, but what I say to people is that it is not relevant unless we can take this success and deploy it with haste and on a large scale to put themselves in the hands of people who need the ability to fight, win and dissuade war,” said Tseng.
This is why the objective of the company during the next decade is to produce and put the best AI driver on the scale via its software platform which allows its partners to deploy their own specialized vehicles and machines.
The Technology Company recently expanded its scope thanks to major partnerships with the South Korean Defense Company Korea Aerospace Industries as well as the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Defense Science and Technology Agency of the Republic of Singapore.
While the company continues to grow, it has also made operational changes. Last week, Shield AI announced that experienced technology director Gary Steele would take over as a new CEO in May.
During his 30 -year career, Steele has history for the scale of software companies. Currently, he is president of the Cisco software giant, where he oversees sales and marketing teams. He has been working there since 2024, after Cisco acquired his corporate software start-up for $ 28 billion. Previously, Steele also founded and led a startup to an IPO after carrying out an assessment of $ 12 billion.
Tseng will go to the role of founder and president, alongside his brother, to focus on the company’s American and foreign policy relations with the leaders as well as on aerospace and defense companies.
Tseng said that his mission had not changed since the first day of the AI co-foundation and it is grateful to work every day with extraordinary people. When he launched the company, Tseng thought about what he wanted to do for the next 50 years.
“When I take a look in the world and see all the things that, you know, could be done, there is nothing else that I prefer to do than work alongside Gary and his team to accomplish the mission on a large scale,” said Tseng.
Regarding the plans for Shield IA to the public market through a first public offer, Tseng said that it would not make chronology, but society will inevitably be ready to become public.
“The objective is always to be a business of sufficient quality for you to be ready to make public,” said Tseng. “There are many advantages for private markets, but what public procurement is waiting for is operational excellence, and this is something that obsesses us with Shield IA.”
The company said that it had raised approximately $ 1.1 billion in funding to date. The latest evaluation of $ 5.3 billion in Shield has in fact one of the most precious companies in San Diego, according to data from the Pitchbook research company.
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