The Fighter Jet With No Pilot

Flying a military aircraft used to be much simpler: a human in the cockpit, making every decision. That model is starting to shift.

A US startup called Shield AI just raised $1.5 billion, pushing its valuation to $12.7 billion — triggered by a contract with the US Air Force.

Modern air combat is too fast and complex for humans alone. Shield AI's core system, called Hivemind, acts like a "brain" for aircraft. Instead of a human remotely controlling a drone, operators can assign a mission — and the system handles navigation, coordination, and decisions on its own, even without GPS.

The US Air Force selected Shield's software for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) — autonomous drones that fly alongside human pilots, supporting them in missions, gathering intelligence, and handling high-risk tasks.

Macy's is now testing Ask Macy's, an AI shopping assistant built on Google's Gemini — and early results are mildly terrifying: shoppers using it are spending 4.75x more than everyone else.

Instead of just finding what you asked for, the AI builds outfits, adds "just one more thing," and gently convinces you that yes, you do need matching shoes.

Nearly 40% of top US retailers are rolling out similar AI assistants, all trying to keep you shopping inside their apps… and away from self-control.

Celebrating this week's Woman in Tech: Meet Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at Polestar, one of the most outspoken electric vehicle companies on transparency and carbon accountability.

She studied Environmental Systems Analysis at Chalmers University of Technology. She began her career at IKEA and later KappAhl, where she rose to become Head of Sustainability.

In 2020, she joined Polestar. Under her leadership, Polestar introduced detailed life-cycle carbon footprint reporting for each vehicle model. She is also a leading force behind the Polestar 0 project — an initiative to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030.