AI firm with government ties is developing military drone tech

A company that has worked closely with the UK government on artificial intelligence safety, the NHS and education is also developing AI for military drones.

- Jasper Jolly

The consultancy Faculty AI has "experience developing and deploying AI models on to UAVs", or unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a defence industry partner.

Faculty is one of the most active companies selling AI services in the UK. Unlike the likes of OpenAI, DeepMind or Anthropic, it does not develop models itself, instead focusing on reselling them, notably from OpenAI, and consulting on their use in government and industry.

Faculty gained particular prominence in the UK after working on data analysis for the Vote Leave campaign before the Brexit vote. Boris Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings then gave government work to Faculty during the pandemic, and included its chief executive, Marc Warner, in meetings of the government's scientific advisory panel.

Since then, the company, which is based in London and officially called Faculty Science, has carried out testing of AI models for the UK government's AI Safety Institute (AISI), set up in 2023 under the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Governments are racing to understand the safety implications of artificial intelligence, after rapid improvements in generative AI prompted a wave of hype.

Weapons companies are keen to put AI on drones, ranging from "loyal wingmen" that could fly alongside fighter jets, to loitering munitions that are already capable of waiting for targets to appear before firing.

The latest technological developments have raised the prospect of drones that can track and kill without a human making the final decision.