Where OpenAI's technology could show up in Iran Three places to watch, from the margins of war to the center of combat. It's been just over two weeks since OpenAI reached a controversial agreement to allow the Pentagon to use its AI in classified environments. There are still pressing questions about what exactly OpenAI's agreement allows for; Sam Altman said the military can't use his company's technology to build autonomous weapons, but the agreement really just demands that the military follow its own (quite permissive) guidelines about such weapons. OpenAI's other main claim, that the agreement will prevent use of its technology for domestic surveillance, appears equally dubious . It's not the first tech giant to embrace military contracts it had once vowed never to enter into, but the speed of the pivot was notable. Perhaps it's just about money; OpenAI is spending lots on AI training and is on the hunt for more revenue (from sources including ads).

On the top floor of a squat Singapore industrial estate, wedged between a railway depot and water reclamation plant, is a young security firm that's shooting for the stars. Well, shooting for anything beneath the stars that shouldn't be there, technically speaking. TRD is one of the world's leading purveyors of anti-drone technology--a burgeoning industry worth some $1.1 billion last year and projected to grow to $7.4 billion by 2032. "Anti-drone is the hot topic right now," says TRD CEO Sam Ong, a former officer in the Singapore Armour Corps, where he specialized in tank technology. "Unmanned warfare is taking center stage, especially in the Ukraine war."

Rogue Drone Pilots Face A New Foe: Deep Learning AI In the wake of airspace-invading drones causing the precautionary shutdowns of three major airports--London's Gatwick in December and Heathrow in early January, along with Newark Liberty International, NJ last week--aviation authorities the world over are now considering the acquisition of commercial drone detection, tracking, and capture systems, in a bid to keep airliners and passengers safe. However, they could be jumping the gun. Experts are warning that today's counter-drone systems are no cure-all, as they cannot defend against some types of criminal drone threat--especially the most determined airspace saboteurs using home-built, customized drones that may not respond to conventional countermeasures. However, a number of ingenious ideas are now being investigated to shore up some of the gaps in functionality, and some of them are even based on the technology of the moment: deep learning. Aviation safety authorities worry about drones because they can penetrate cockpit windscreens, injuring the pilots, or risk starting inflight fires by breaching the fuel tanks in aircraft wings, or causing sudden engine failure during a critical part of flight like takeoff or landing, perhaps leading to a crash.

The silence was shredded by the rat-tat-tat eruptions of a single gun. More soldiers fired, their volleys coalescing into the grim music of war -- a sustained snare drum roll soon interrupted by the bass thumps of the 50-caliber machine gun. All the barrels pointed at a speck tracing a line in the sky over west Mosul. Their target was yet another drone dispatched by Islamic State. In the seven months of the Iraqi government's drive to recapture Mosul from the jihadists, small drones have become a signature tactic of the group: Their appearance on the horizon, loaded with a camera, signals that punishing mortar barrages will soon be on the way.

SINGAPORE – A boom in consumer drone sales has spawned a counter-industry of startups aiming to stop drones flying where they shouldn't, by disabling them or knocking them out of the sky. Dozens of startup firms are developing techniques -- from deploying birds of prey to firing gas through a bazooka -- to take on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are being used to smuggle drugs, drop bombs, spy on enemy lines or buzz public spaces. The arms race is fed in part by the slow pace of government regulation for drones. In Australia, for example, different agencies regulate drones and counter-drone technologies. "There are potential privacy issues in operating remotely piloted aircraft, but the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's role is restricted to safety. Privacy is not in our remit," a CASA official said.