NATO to Invest $1.1B in AI, Robotics, Space Tech

The initial allotment of companies that received funding as part of the group’s one billion euro ($1.1 billion) innovation fund has been verified by a consortium of NATO allies

The fund was unveiled by the alliance in the summer of 2022, months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The coalition pledged to invest in technologies that would improve its defenses.

The fund is supported by 24 of NATO’s 32 member states, including Finland and Sweden, which joined the alliance earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) verified that it had directly invested in four European tech companies. The fund stated that this investment would assist in addressing challenges related to resilience, security, and defense.

Fractile AI, a London-based computer chipmaker, and ARX Robotics, a German company that designs unmanned robots with functions spanning from heavy lifting to surveillance, have received funding from the organization.

Fractile AI aims to accelerate the performance of large language models (LLMs) such as those that run ChatGPT.

British manufacturer iCOMAT, which produces lighter materials for vehicles, and Welsh company Space Forge, which utilizes the conditions of space, including microgravity and vacuum conditions, to construct semiconductors in orbit, were the other two entrepreneurs.

“The fund’s managing partner, Andrea Traversone, emphasized the importance of facilitating access to strategic technologies to guarantee a secure and prosperous future for the alliance’s one billion citizens.”

The fund has also partnered with venture capital firms Alpine Space Ventures, OTB Ventures, Join Capital, and Vsquared Ventures to encourage additional investment in deep technology on the continent.