From pet lasers to killer drones: Ukraine's The Fourth Law arms AI quadcopters
What's the deal? Yaroslav AzhnyukDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Ukrainian entrepreneur behind Petcube — a smartphone-controlled gadget that entertains dogs and cats with a laser pointer — has pivoted to military drones. His team now runs two companies, Odd SystemsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and The Fourth LawDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, building AI-powered first-person-view (FPV) drones for Ukraine's front lines.
Why now? Small quadcopters carrying explosives have become ubiquitous in the war with Russia. Azhnyuk's team, based in Kyiv, adapted the same image-recognition technology that once spotted pets to instead identify military vehicles, artillery pieces, and enemy soldiers.
What's the endgame? Odd Systems meshes image recognition with an attack autopilot. Using a targeting method called YOLO — "you only look once" — operators pick a target, then the drone flies the final 400 yards autonomously, making it impervious to Russian jamming.
The company also produces Zerov, a rocket-shaped interceptor with four propellers programmed to identify Iranian-designed Shahed drones, fly toward them, and explode. Russia has fired these cheap exploding drones at Ukraine for years, and Iran has recently used them against US bases and embassies in the Middle East.
What could go wrong? The Red Cross and other groups monitoring the laws of warfare oppose using AI to conduct strikes without full human control. Azhnyuk argues such systems are necessary to counter a ruthless adversary, and will be needed elsewhere as drones dominate battlefields.
The signal: Odd Systems and The Fourth Law epitomise the transformation of Ukraine's civilian technology industry into a defence powerhouse. Investors are backing weapons startups partly with an eye on a postwar period, when these firms could export their products as well as supply the Ukrainian Army.
Read more: The New York Times
Image credit: The Fourth Law
