NATO Allocates $1.1 Billion for AI, Robotics, and Space Technologies

NATO countries plan to strengthen their defence through space technologies, robotics, and artificial intelligence. For this purpose, they have established a special NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), which has already allocated $1.1 billion for relevant research, Reuters reports.

This innovation fund was founded by Alliance members in the summer of 2022 in response to the growing threat from Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The fund is supported by 24 of the 32 NATO member countries, including Finland and Sweden, which joined the Alliance earlier this year.

Now, NIF representatives have announced the first allocation of funds to companies engaged in research in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, and space technologies.

Specifically, funding has been provided to the London-based company Fractile, which manufactures computer chips and works on accelerating large language models like those powering ChatGPT. German company ARX Robotics, which develops unmanned robots with various functions—from lifting heavy objects to surveillance—has also received funding.

Two other companies whose research will be funded by NATO are British manufacturer iCOMAT, which produces lightweight materials for vehicles, and Space Forge, a Welsh company that uses microgravity and vacuum in low Earth orbit to create semiconductors.

"Ensuring access to strategic technologies is key to securing a safe and prosperous future for the billion-strong Alliance population," said Andrea Traversone, managing partner of NIF.

Additionally, The Gaze reported that six NATO members, including Finland, Norway, Poland, and the Baltic countries, will create a "drone wall" on the border with Russia.