A new AI platform targeted towards the defense industry has been announced by Thales. According to the company, its “cortAIx” product is a “AI accelerator” that will enable manufacturers of aircraft, armed forces, and critical infrastructure to better utilize the vast amounts of data that are becoming accessible to them.
The platform is made up of three main components. The AI research for the platform is supplied by the cortAIx Lab, which is situated in the Saclay research hub in Paris. Thales states that the purpose of the cortAIx Factory is to “accelerate the classification and industrialization of AI development tools and use cases for system data.” Last but not least, cortAIx Sensors gather data in order to deploy the platform’s AI capabilities.
Sonar, radio, and optronics are just a few of the many types of sensors. In air reconnaissance and targeting missions, Thales’ Talios Pod gathers images, and its AirMaster surveillance radar system is intended to gather information from maritime aircraft patrols. The platform will simplify the coordination of multiple drone and robot systems, according to the company, as it develops further.
Naturally, Thales is renowned for possessing sophisticated biometric sensors within its arsenal. Thales is a significant supplier of biometric border screen systems, such as those being used for the European Union’s Entry/Exit System, and the sophistication of its facial recognition technology, for instance, has been validated in independent testing programs like the Department of Homeland Security’s Biometric Technology Rally.
Thales “has been incorporating AI into its critical systems for the last ten years, in order to enable its customers to gain an edge and to become more resilient in the face of a deluge of data, threats, and information,” according to the company’s cortAIx announcement, which did not specifically mention Thales’ biometric technologies.
On that note, Thales says it has amassed a global team of more than 600 AI experts, about 100 doctoral students, and “a top-tier network of industry, start-up and academic partners”. It also has about 5,800 cybersecurity experts among its ranks, as well as a “Friendly Hacking” dedicated to red-teaming its AI solutions.