Pentagon pressure to move AI faster drives Smack's new funding round, CEO says

Smack Technologies, a defense-technology startup focusing on artificial intelligence decision-making tools for the military, has secured $61 million in a Series B funding round to accelerate production of its flagship product and develop wearable AI hardware for battlefield use. This round of investment follows the Defense Department's designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk in March, prompting military branches to seek diverse AI vendors and elevate startups like Smack to hot commodities.

Co-founder and CEO Andy Markoff revealed that both the Marine Corps and Navy expressed interest in Smack's technology, pushing the company to expedite production as the Pentagon grapples with concerns about future conflicts being fought in decentralized, communications-degraded environments. In such scenarios, troops may need to make tactical decisions on the battlefield without relying on centralized systems for real-time data.

Smack's core technology, Omega, aims to shorten the Marine Corps' fires-planning process, allowing for real-time decision-making and adaptation in the heat of battle. The company has recently won two prototyping contracts from the Joint Fires Network and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, and expects to expand its workforce to approximately 85 employees by the end of the year.