military

OpenAI changes policy to allow military applications

Update: In an additional statement, OpenAI has confirmed that the language was changed in order to accommodate military customers and projects the company approves of. Our policy does not allow our to

When the government is the customer (some things to keep in mind)

Five years ago, Google backed away from a Pentagon government contract because thousands of employees protested that its tech might be used for lethal drone targeting. Today, however, Silicon Valley h

Shield AI raises another $60M at a $2.3B valuation for its military autonomous flying tech

Defense technology continues to get a lot of attention from investors, and today, one of the bigger startups in the space is announcing more funding. Shield AI — which develops platforms and pla

Boston Dynamics sues Ghost Robotics over robot dog patent infringements

If you know anything about Ghost Robotics, it’s likely one of two things: 1) They make robot dogs. 2) Sniper rifles can be mounted to those robots. A majority of the Philadelphia firm’s press cove

Dedrone’s counter-drone jammer uses science to stop drones in their tracks

Drones are lovely for all sorts of things, including shooting incredible 700-shot gigapixel images over Burning Man, for example. But they can also be used for nefarious purposes, carrying explosives

Google workers protest $1.2B Project Nimbus contract with Israeli military

A group of Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim and Arab Google employees are speaking out against the tech giant’s Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract involving Google, Amazon and the Israeli govern

Joby Aviation’s contract with US Air Force expands to include Marines

The United States Department of Defense is deepening its relationship with electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft company Joby Aviation.  Joby said Wednesday that it is expanding its

Anduril is raising up to $1.2B, sources say at a $7B pre-money valuation, for its defense tech

Technology built to improve state resilience — be it in the form of cybersecurity, energy independence, national defense or something else entirely — has come into stronger focus in the wa

UK Foreign Office calls in ‘urgent support’ after cyber incident

The U.K’s Foreign Office was the target of a “serious incident” that forced it to request urgent cybersecurity help. The incident was confirmed in a recently released public tender document. Thi

Pentagon announces new cloud initiative to replace ill-fated JEDI contract

The Pentagon announced a limited request for bids for a new cloud initiative today that replaces the cancelled $10 billion, decade-long JEDI contract initiative. You may recall (or not) that it previo

War dogs

Let’s talk about strapping guns to the backs of robots. I’m not a fan (how’s that for taking a stand?). When MSCHF did it with Spot back in February, it was a thought experiment, art exhibit and

How national security is being redefined by climate change

One of the most unfortunate fault lines in climate change politics today is the lack of cooperation between environmentalists and the national security community. Left-wing climate activists don’t e

Social platforms wrestle with what to do about the Taliban

With the hasty U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan underway after two decades occupying the country, social media platforms have a complex new set of policy decisions to make. The Taliban has be

Silicon Valley should fight its stigma against military work

The military is rightly described as a cross-section of the United States, and supporting those who serve is a Silicon Valley tradition, good business practice and the right thing to do.

Equity Live: This is what leadership smells like

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we did something fun and different and good: a live show!

The US wants startups to get a piece of the $16 billion spent on space tech

The U.S. government is one of the biggest spenders in the nascent space industry, and the man who handles the money for the Air Force’s $16 billion checkbook wants startups to know that his door

Space Force commander explains how the new military service operates like a startup

The latest branch of the U.S. military was founded just a year ago and will celebrate its first birthday on December 20. General John W. “Jay” Raymond spoke at TC Sessions: Space and expla

Watch Space Force’s Lt. Gen. John Thompson speak on sourcing tech to secure space

Lt. Gen. John Thompson of the United States Space Force spoke at TC Sessions: Space earlier this week on the importance of working with startups. The general is the Commander of the Space and Missiles

Two key UK military nonprofits join forces to boost veteran training in cyber and tech

Advancements in the tech and the cyber threat landscape are creating vast job opportunities. The global cybersecurity market is projected to reach £210 billion by 2026. But in the U.K., out of 952,00

UK to invest in AI and cyber as part of major defense spending hike

The UK has announced a massive boost in defense spending — £16.5 billion ($21.8BN) over four years, the biggest such spending bump for 30 years — in what prime minister Boris Johnson has
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