Discover the cutting-edge innovations in autonomous systems, defense tech, and physical AI that are redefining global security and reshaping the physical workforce.
The first ground-autonomy company to hold a prime production contract with the U.S. military isn't a defense giant — it's Overland AI, a Seattle startup. A $20M APFIT award puts a dozen autonomous vehicles on MADIS air-defense resupply runs, with deliveries starting in early 2027.
Vitestro's Aletta became the first CE-marked autonomous phlebotomy device, drawing blood alone in a Danish clinic in June with a 94.5% first-stick rate across 1,633 Dutch trial patients. It excludes the hard cases, waits on the US FDA, and now sits at the center of DARPA's field-transfusion plans.
Terabase's Terafab V2 uses a mobile factory and a fleet of rovers to install a gigawatt of solar in ten weeks. A $130M SoftBank-led Series C — with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude, Fifth Wall, SJF and EDP — funds a line that could crack the labour bottleneck.
A $4 million missile against a $2,000 drone is a losing equation. Cambridge Aerospace closed $300M at a $3.4B valuation to manufacture Skyhammer interceptors at 2,500 a month by March 2027, betting unit cost — not payload sophistication — ends the asymmetry.
In January 2026, Quali Drone and RWE inspected a spinning offshore turbine's blades for the first time — no shutdown, no rope access. Perceptual Robotics raised £4M to scale it; Percepto launched an AI platform for energy assets. A $650M market compounds 22.7% toward $3.3B by 2034.
Neros raised a $250M Series C at a $2.5B post-money valuation, tripling its value, and committed to one million drones a year by 2028. Two former drone racers turned a supply-chain bet into Sequoia and Thiel backing. Here is what the scale promise means for the small-drone market.
Atlas Motion emerged from stealth with $11.5M to design drone and robot motors in minutes with AI software. The real bet is breaking China's grip on the components behind every autonomous platform.
The FAA granted DoorDash a Part 135 air carrier certificate on July 29, letting it run its own drone fleet. What the certificate unlocks, and what it does not.