Shield AI
"Protecting lives with artificial intelligence"
US defense AI company building Hivemind — an autonomous AI pilot for military aircraft and drones operating without GPS or comms links.
Shield AI is a defense technology company founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Diego, California. The company's mission is to protect service members and civilians by building the world's best AI pilot — software that enables aircraft and drones to operate autonomously in the most contested, communications-denied, and GPS-degraded environments imaginable.
At the heart of Shield AI's technology is Hivemind, an edge AI pilot that runs entirely onboard the aircraft without requiring an uplink, GPS signal, or real-time human commands. Hivemind senses, plans, and executes autonomously — performing real-time reasoning in dynamic threat environments. Unlike cloud-dependent or waypoint-driven systems, Hivemind enables a drone or aircraft to adapt continuously to changing battlefield conditions with no external dependencies.
Shield AI's flagship hardware platform is the Nova 2, a compact indoor quadcopter designed for reconnaissance and exploration in GNSS-denied, communication-denied urban environments. The Nova series has been deployed in high-stakes operations since 2018, including hostage rescue missions in Israel, and has been demonstrated to Indian military forces in 2025. The Nova 2 uses advanced computer vision and Hivemind's autonomy stack to navigate complex 3D environments beyond any line of sight.
In October 2025, Shield AI unveiled the X-BAT, a VTOL stealth unmanned combat aircraft designed for shipboard deployment, with no runway requirement and piloted entirely by Hivemind. The X-BAT's first vertical takeoff flight is slated for 2026, with operational deployment targeted for 2028.
On the software licensing front, Hivemind has been integrated into fixed-wing platforms including the BQM-177A target drone (demonstrated in autonomous beyond-visual-range flight for the U.S. Navy in September 2025) and Anduril's YFQ-44A Fury combat drone (selected by the U.S. Air Force as one of only two mission autonomy providers for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program in February 2026). Hivemind has also been tested on modified F-16 fighters as part of DARPA's autonomous air combat experiments.
Northrop Grumman's Talon IQ platform has also been integrated with Hivemind, broadening the software's footprint across defense prime contractors. As of early 2026, Shield AI's valuation reached $12.7 billion following a $2 billion Series G round, with the company projecting over $540 million in annual revenue.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
Hivemind AI Pilot
Edge AI autonomy software that pilots aircraft and drones without GPS, comms, or human control in contested environments.
Nova 2
- Model: Nova 2
- Launch Year: 2021
Indoor quadcopter drone for autonomous reconnaissance in GPS-denied, communication-denied urban environments.
X-BAT
- Model: X-BAT
- Launch Year: 2025
Autonomous VTOL stealth unmanned combat aircraft designed for shipboard deployment, powered entirely by Hivemind.
Hivemind Enterprise
AI-powered software suite to develop, test and deploy your own AI pilots, letting you build and own the autonomy for your unmanned system.
Hivemind EdgeOS
V-BAT
VTOL UAS delivering ISR and targeting on the EW battlefield, operating in GPS/GNSS-denied environments; powered by Hivemind autonomy.
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Contact Shield AI
WEBSITE
https://shield.ai/PHONE
619-719-5740HEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
2015
Primary Role
Software/Algorithm
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
-
Funding Total
-
