85% of NATO’s defence-tech funding goes to the US. AVP and Earlybird raised €500M to change that.
85% of NATO’s defence-tech funding goes to the US. AVP and Earlybird raised €500M to change that.

Europe is pledging hundreds of billions to defence. Almost none of the venture money funding the technology behind it is European. Since 2019, the US has captured around 85 per cent of all NATO defence-tech venture funding, according to the founders of…

Europe’s carmakers are pivoting to defence as EV demand slows and military budgets soar
Europe’s carmakers are pivoting to defence as EV demand slows and military budgets soar

Four European automakers announced military vehicle partnerships in the past week. Ineos is bidding for a UK Ministry of Defence contract. Daimler Truck launched a dedicated defence brand. Renault partnered with Thales for armoured vehicles. Mercedes-B…

A startup that builds offensive cyber weapons just became a $1bn unicorn
A startup that builds offensive cyber weapons just became a $1bn unicorn

Most cybersecurity startups sell shields. Twenty sells the sword, and investors just valued that at $1bn. The company, which describes itself as America’s first venture-backed cyber warfare firm, has raised a $100mn Series B led by Accel, Axios reporte…

A Czech AI startup says it can detect drones by sound for €150 per sensor, and it wants to wire up power grids first
A Czech AI startup says it can detect drones by sound for €150 per sensor, and it wants to wire up power grids first

Czech startup Neuron Soundware has built an AI-powered acoustic detection system called Sound Shield that identifies drones by the sound of their engines using microphone sensors that cost between €100 and €150 each. The system is designed as a passive…

More Big Tech executives just became Army officers. The conflict-of-interest question is getting louder.
More Big Tech executives just became Army officers. The conflict-of-interest question is getting louder.

The US Army has commissioned three more technology executives into Detachment 201, the reserve unit that gives Silicon Valley leaders the rank of lieutenant colonel and a direct advisory line to senior military officials. Dane Knecht, chief technology …

BAE Systems is funding the startups that want to disrupt it
BAE Systems is funding the startups that want to disrupt it

BAE Systems, the UK’s largest defence company, is putting €50m into venture capital, a bet that the startups it backs today could shape the weapons it sells tomorrow. The money will flow into VC funds focused on European defence-tech, with €25m of it g…

The US government is defending xAI’s polluting turbines as vital to the war effort
The US government is defending xAI’s polluting turbines as vital to the war effort

The US Justice Department has taken Elon Musk’s side in a pollution lawsuit, arguing that the gas turbines powering his AI data centre are too important to national security to switch off. In a filing on Monday, the department, joined by the state of M…

As Europe rearms, the ‘wingman’ drone takes centre stage at the Berlin airshow
As Europe rearms, the ‘wingman’ drone takes centre stage at the Berlin airshow

The aircraft drawing crowds at last week’s Berlin airshow was not the one with a pilot in it. The “loyal wingman,” an uncrewed jet built to fly beside a manned fighter and carry the extra sensors, jammers, and weapons the fighter cannot, has become Eur…

Ukraine gains access to EU emergency cyber response for major attacks
Ukraine gains access to EU emergency cyber response for major attacks

Ukraine can now draw on emergency European Union cyber support to respond to large-scale incidents, after the Council of the EU approved its inclusion in the EU Cybersecurity Reserve on 15 June. The decision extends a defensive mechanism built for memb…

Mercedes-Benz turns to defence, partnering with startup Tytan to build anti-drone vehicles
Mercedes-Benz turns to defence, partnering with startup Tytan to build anti-drone vehicles

Mercedes-Benz is leaning deeper into defence. The carmaker has signed a memorandum of understanding with TYTAN Technologies, a Munich counter-drone startup, to develop vehicle-based systems that detect and shoot down hostile drones, built on its G-Clas…