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How satellites and AI work together to monitor the planet

Screengrab of global imagery map from Satlas
Satlas’ AI modeling software improves satellite image resolution by a factor of four. (AI2 / Satlas Image)

Geospatial data analysis promises to revolutionize the way agriculture, urban planning and disaster relief is done — and thanks to a variety of projects that make use of artificial intelligence, Microsoft and Seattle’s Allen Institute for AI are part of that revolution.

The Allen Institute for AI, also known as AI2, recently rolled out Satlas, a new software platform for exploring global geospatial data generated from satellite imagery. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab is working with public and private institutions in Colombia on Project Guacamaya, which uses AI tools to monitor and understand conditions in the Amazon Rainforest.

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What an electric boat ride feels like (and sounds like)

Arc One electric boat at Kirkland marina
The Arc One electric boat is moored at the Carillon Point Marina in Kirkland, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Lake Washington in August may be known for its gas-fueled, ear-splitting thunderboats, but this week it played host to an electric-powered lightning boat that was much easier on the ears.

“One thing you’ll note is that we’re able to have a conversation,” pilot Miriam Morris said as she revved up the Arc One electric boat past 40 mph. “This would not be possible on a gas boat.”

Arc brought the 24-foot luxury cruiser up to Kirkland’s Carillon Point dock to give potential buyers in the Seattle area — and at least one landlubber journalist — an up-close look and a quick jaunt around Lake Washington.

The Arc One, designed for lake outings, is the first in what the company hopes will eventually become a full line of electric boats. California-based Arc has already sold out the limited number of boats it’s been building over the past year (in the “low double-digits,” said Ted Herringshaw, the company’s head of product). But it’s planning to raise the production rate for a new model next year, thanks to a $30 million funding round and a bigger factory that’s set to open in Torrance, Calif.

Arc, which was founded in early 2021, is just one of several startups targeting the luxury electric boat market. Another leader in the field is Seattle-based Pure Watercraft, which is partnering with GM on pontoon boats and other products. Candela (which builds electric-powered hydrofoils) and X Shore are in the race as well — although Herringshaw doesn’t regard it as a race.

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DARPA summit focuses on reviving U.S. chip industry

Audience at DARPA ERI 2.0 Summit in Seattle
Hundreds gather at DARPA’s ERI 2.0 Summit in Seattle. (DARPA Photo)

Tech executives, researchers and government officials are gathering in Seattle this week to figure out ways to add a new dimension to America’s chip industry — figuratively and literally.

“We’re going to talk about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent domestic microelectronics manufacturing,” Mark Rosker, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Microsystems Technology Office, said today at the opening session of the ERI 2.0 Summit at the Hyatt Regency Seattle.

More than 1,300 attendees signed up for the DARPA event, which follows up on a series of Electronics Resurgence Initiative Summits that were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main objective of this week’s summit is to work on ways to boost research, development and manufacturing for the chip industry. DARPA is just one of the government agencies involved in such efforts. Representatives of the Commerce Department, the U.S. Department of Energy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation are also at this week’s summit.

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Tech leaders explore new public policy frontiers for AI

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and AI2's Chris Emura
Sen. Maria Cantwell gets a briefing from Chris Emura of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

ChatGPT and other next-generation strains of artificial intelligence have revolutionized the tech world over the past year, and policymakers are ramping up their efforts to respond.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Washington state Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, says the situation reminds her of the way the G.I. Bill opened up opportunities for veterans returning home from World War II.

“Now, instead of a G.I. Bill, we need an AI education bill,” she said today during a Future of AI Forum conducted in downtown Seattle. “We need a bill that says, how do we educate for the future, given the impacts of AI? How do we offer the training and the skill set so people can adapt now in the workplace?”

Cantwell’s forum provided an opportunity for AI startups in Washington state to show how their ventures could bring fresh innovations to a wide variety of fields — and provided an opportunity for leaders from government, academia, industry and labor to lay out their ideas for supporting and regulating AI.

“We tend to use the phrase ‘It’s Day One’ in the age of internet,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of database, analytics and machine learning at Amazon Web Services. “But in this phase, I would say it’s Day One, we just woke up and we haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet.”

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Cosmic Tech

Air Force picks its builders for a swoopy kind of aircraft

Illustration: Blended-wing prototype aircraft in flight
An artist's conception shows a blended wing body prototype aircraft in flight. (U.S. Air Force Graphic)

Get ready for another prototype airplane that looks as if it flew straight out of a science-fiction novel.

The Department of the Air Force has selected JetZero’s design for a prototype aircraft that has a swoopy blended wing body, or BWB, rather than the typical tube-and-wing look.

The design has the potential to decrease aerodynamic drag by at least 30% and provide additional lift. This could translate into extended range, more loiter time and increased payload delivery efficiencies for the Air Force.

“Blended wing body aircraft have the potential to significantly reduce fuel demand and increase global reach,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in a news release. “Moving forces and cargo quickly, efficiently, and over long distance is a critical capability to enable national security strategy.”

Commercial aviation could benefit as well. “The BWB is the best first step on the path to zero carbon emissions,” JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary said in a news release. “It offers 50% lower fuel burn using today’s engines, and the airframe efficiency needed to support a transition to zero carbon emissions propulsion in the future. No other proposed aircraft comes close in terms of efficiency.”

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Tech executive faces tough job as OceanGate’s new CEO

OceanGate platform
OceanGate employees work on an air tank during the Titan submersible's development in 2017. (OceanGate File Photo)

A veteran of Seattle’s startup and investment scene, Gordon Gardiner, has been given the task of leading Oceangate through the aftermath of June’s controversial loss of the Titan submersible and its crew during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck — and eventually to the closure of operations.

Gardiner has been appointed as CEO and director of the privately held Everett-based company, which suspended commercial and exploration operations after Titan’s implosion in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean. OceanGate’s previous CEO and co-founder, Stockton Rush, was among the five crew members who died.

The new CEO’s primary task is to lead OceanGate through the ongoing investigations and closure of the company’s operations, OceanGate said in a statement. The company already has shut down its Facebook page and X / Twitter accounts, and its website has been reduced to a single black-and-white page announcing the suspension of operations.

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Space Force provides a boost for Integrate’s software

Artist's conception of Space Systems Command's SpaceDEN operations center
An artist’s conception shows the Space Systems Command’s SpaceDEN facility. (U.S. Space Force Illustration)

Seattle-based Integrate says it has raised $3.4 million in funding and secured a $1.25 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to boost its program management software platform into a higher orbit. The year-old startup has also brought Firefly Aerospace on board as a customer.

“It has been a busy and exhilarating month,” John Conafay, CEO and co-founder of Integrate, said today in a news release.

The newly announced seed funding round was led by Hyperplane, with participation from Riot Ventures, Ravelin Capital and John Capodilupo, former chief technology officer and co-founder of Whoop. This follows a pre-seed investment round that brought in $970,000 last year.

Integrate said the fresh funding will go toward expanding the company’s team, which currently consists of eight full-time employees and a handful of contractors.

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Olis raises $4M for tech that keeps robots on track

Olis Connect monitoring an industrial robot
The Olis Connect system can monitor industrial robots securely via a mobile device. (Olis Robotics via YouTube)

Seattle-based Olis Robotics has raised $4.1 million to explore new markets for tools that make it possible to monitor and control industrial robots remotely and securely.

The funding round was led by PSL Ventures, Olis Robotics said today in a news release. Additional backing came from Tectonic Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures and several strategic angel investors — including Daniel Theobald, a pioneer in the field who played key roles in founding MassRobotics and Vecna Robotics.

Olis’ flagship product, Olis Connect, helps operators monitor and manage their machines remotely from anywhere via any browser-capable device. If a robot encounters a problem, Olis Connect sends out an alert via a secure connection to the operator’s device without connecting to the cloud — which is an added safeguard in environments where cybersecurity is a concern. Operators can then use the system remotely to execute error recovery actions, such as releasing the robot’s grip on a part, or moving the robot from its error position.

“Robot downtime can cost a large plant over $1 million per hour. When every minute counts, you need to leverage remote tools to react as quickly as possible no matter where you are,” Olis Robotics CEO Fredrik Ryden explained. “Our technology is ingeniously simple to use and intensely practical in terms of its impact.”

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Airlines join Boeing’s team to work on eco-friendly plane

Planned livery for X-66A airplane
X-66A Transonic Truss-Braced Wing aircraft

Boeing and NASA say they’ll collaborate with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines and four other major airlines on the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which aims to put Boeing’s innovative X-66 braced-wing aircraft design through flight tests in the 2028-2029 time frame.

The X-66A makes use of a concept known as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, or TTBW, which features ultra-long, ultra-thin, drag-reducing wings that are stabilized by diagonal struts.

The demonstrator aircraft will also incorporate parallel advancements in propulsion systems, materials and system architecture. When all those factors are combined, the single-aisle X-66A should reduce fuel requirements and carbon emissions by up to 30% relative to today’s domestic airplane fleet.

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NLM Photonics raises $1M from Japanese companies

NLM Photonics' Kevin O’Malley works at a probe station
NLM Photonics' Kevin O’Malley works at a probe station that measures electro-optic activity. (NLM Photonics Photo)

Seattle-based NLM Photonics says it has raised $1 million in new funding to advance commercialization of its hybrid electro-optic modulation technology, which is meant to open the way for semiconductors that can handle more data with less power.

The funding round was led by two Japanese companies: Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., also known as TOK, and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.

TOK is a world leader in manufacturing materials for advanced electronics, and in supplying critical goods for the semiconductor industry. Hamamatsu is a major player in the market for photonics components — and was involved in a previous investment round for NLM. The TOK investment deal also includes collaboration on developing shelf-stable inks incorporating NLM’s proprietary materials.

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