Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy News

Aviation Week • Graham Warwick

Merlin Pilot Granted NZ Experimental Certificate to Test Autonomous Caravan Flights

Merlin Labs received an experimental airworthiness certificate from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority, enabling final-phase flight testing of its Merlin Pilot autonomy platform on Cessna Caravan fixed-wing aircraft. The approval advances the company's supplemental type certificate program toward first-ever takeoff-to-touchdown autonomous operations.

2025-05-22T07:48:22.832641-07:00

FAA

FAA Caps Newark Flights and Launches Task Force After Repeated ATC Failures

2025-05-12T07:32:54.814081-07:00

The Hill

Severe ATC Staffing Shortfall Drives Push for AI Assistance

2025-05-14T08:03:08.360509-07:00

SpaceNews.com

China launches first satellites for planned 2,800-unit AI space computing constellation

2025-05-14T15:51:53.474024-07:00

Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy News Timeline

Wall Street Journal

Anduril and Meta Win US Army IVAS Recompete to Deliver AI-Powered XR Helmets Anduril Industries has teamed with Meta to develop and deliver AI-powered mixed reality headsets for the US Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) recompete, replacing Microsoft’s HoloLens. The program will field the EagleEye AR/VR helmet and a suite of XR tools to enhance battlefield awareness, autonomy and command efficiency.

2025-05-29T09:26:15.240100-07:00

Anduril and Meta Win US Army IVAS Recompete to Deliver AI-Powered XR Helmets

The Air Current

Ukraine’s Drone War Leans on AI in Niche Roles, While Autonomous Swarms Remain Out of Reach Ukraine’s military has integrated AI-driven tools—such as image recognition, signal processing and mission planning—into drone operations, yet human pilots still control lethal strikes. Technical hurdles, ethical debates and battlefield complexity continue to delay the emergence of fully autonomous, swarm-capable UAVs.

2025-05-27T11:41:30.788913-07:00

Ukraine’s Drone War Leans on AI in Niche Roles, While Autonomous Swarms Remain Out of Reach

Aviation Week

Leonardo proposes Japan join Proteus uncrewed rotorcraft program Leonardo has opened discussions with Japanese defense and industry partners to join its Proteus uncrewed rotorcraft development program. The Proteus concept – a medium-lift autonomous helicopter designed for logistics and ISR missions – could tap into Japan’s aerospace capabilities and bolster the program’s regional footprint.

2025-05-23T10:10:19.401895-07:00

Leonardo proposes Japan join Proteus uncrewed rotorcraft program

spaceinafrica.com

Dragonfly Aerospace and Unibap Forge Compatibility Deal to Deploy Radiation-Tolerant Edge AI on Satellites Dragonfly Aerospace announced a Compatibility Agreement with Sweden’s Unibap to integrate Unibap’s radiation-tolerant edge computing modules into Dragonfly’s satellite platforms, enabling onboard real-time artificial intelligence for data processing and decision-making. The partnership aims to enhance mission autonomy, reduce downlink demands and accelerate AI deployment across smallsat constellations.

2025-05-23T03:56:46.428889-07:00

Dragonfly Aerospace and Unibap Forge Compatibility Deal to Deploy Radiation-Tolerant Edge AI on Satellites

Aviation Week

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Merlin Pilot Granted NZ Experimental Certificate to Test Autonomous Caravan Flights Merlin Labs received an experimental airworthiness certificate from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority, enabling final-phase flight testing of its Merlin Pilot autonomy platform on Cessna Caravan fixed-wing aircraft. The approval advances the company's supplemental type certificate program toward first-ever takeoff-to-touchdown autonomous operations.

2025-05-22T07:48:22.832641-07:00

Merlin Pilot Granted NZ Experimental Certificate to Test Autonomous Caravan Flights

SpaceWatch Global

ICEYE and Safran.AI Forge Strategic Partnership for Persistent High-Resolution SAR Surveillance ICEYE has formed a long-term strategic partnership with Safran.AI to integrate advanced AI and multisensor processing with its constellation of 25 cm-resolution SAR satellites. The collaboration aims to enhance persistent geospatial intelligence by combining high-resolution radar imaging, rapid revisit rates and AI-driven analytics for defense and intelligence customers.

2025-05-22T04:06:26.813710-07:00

ICEYE and Safran.AI Forge Strategic Partnership for Persistent High-Resolution SAR Surveillance

SpaceNews.com

PiLogic Secures $4M Seed to Power Custom AI Diagnostics for Satellites PiLogic, a California-based software startup, raised $4 million in seed funding on May 22 to develop bespoke artificial intelligence tools for satellite diagnostics, health monitoring and other space applications. The capital will fuel its tailored AI models to improve on-orbit system performance and predictive maintenance.

2025-05-22T03:07:49.029230-07:00

PiLogic Secures $4M Seed to Power Custom AI Diagnostics for Satellites

Via Satellite

OpenAI Unveils Geospatial Reasoning in New O-Series Models At a recent demonstration, OpenAI’s national security lead unveiled the geospatial reasoning capabilities of the new O-series models, highlighting their ability to parse complex map data, extract spatial features and provide layered insights. The showcase signals advancing AI applications in real-time geospatial intelligence and defense analytics.

2025-05-21T15:15:57.251825-07:00

OpenAI Unveils Geospatial Reasoning in New O-Series Models

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