American soldiers are starting to carry artificial intelligence in their pockets and rucksacks, the result of a $98.9 million contract between the U.S. Army and a San Francisco startup. The contract with TurbineOne reflects twin realities of the modern battlefield: Drones and AI have accelerated the speed of combat to a blistering pace, and ubiquitous signal jamming makes it difficult to send and receive data at the front lines. TurbineOne’s software runs on soldiers’ laptops, smartphones and drones, eliminating the need for a steady cloud connection. The AI application equips individual soldiers with the ability to quickly identify enemy threats, such as a drone-launch site or concealed troop position, and the context needed to decide how to respond without relying on analysts sitting miles away.

Full report : The US Army awards a $98.9M contract to TurbineOne to deploy AI software that helps infantry identify drones and other threats locally on soldiers’ devices.