AI Labs
Shield AI
30-Second Executive Brief
Executive Assessment
Shield AI functions as an established institution within AI Labs, backed by 80% sourcing coverage, though its relative influence is cooling.
- Maintains 2 mapped relationships across the graph
- 80% sourcing coverage across sourced relationships
- Tracked as established institution within the AI Labs category
Executive Snapshot
- Strategic Role
- Established Institution
- Sourcing Coverage
- 80%
- Ecosystem Influence
- High
- Strategic Momentum
- Decelerating
View Methodology →
Computed live from this entity's own relationships and evidence: how many relationships carry at least one linked citation, weighted with citation recency and source type — independent of Strategic Importance, and not a prediction. Not a hand-typed number; recalculated on every read.
Coverage
- Mapped Relationships
- 2
- Technology Domains
- 4
Strategic Implications
- Central node connecting multiple strategic ecosystems
- Directly influences technology and capital flows
- Material relevance to downstream dependency mapping
Top Opportunities
Top Risks
Critical Dependencies
A defense technology company building AI autopilot software (Hivemind) and autonomous drones for military use, which raised a $1.5 billion Series G round in March 2026 at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation (up 140% year-over-year), led by Advent International with Blackstone providing $500 million in preferred equity. Shield AI completed its acquisition of simulation company Aechelon Technology in June 2026 and expects over 80% revenue growth in 2026, targeting $1 billion in revenue by the year ending March 2028.
Additional Intelligence Signals
Patent citation lineage, earnings-call mentions, and federal contract disclosures — automatically collected, not yet visible anywhere else on the site.
Federal contract disclosures
Department of Homeland Security — $16,033,703: VBAT SHORE BASED SERVICES. TASK ORDER FOR PUERTO RICO.
USAspending.gov · Feb 27, 2026
Department of Defense — $11,322,585: V-BAT VTOL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
USAspending.gov · Sep 3, 2025
Department of Homeland Security — $8,440,414: TASK ORDER FOR MR-UAS GUAM SHORE EXPANSION.
USAspending.gov · May 27, 2026
Department of Homeland Security — $5,891,843: TO#3 FOR SHORE-BASED VBAT DEPLOYMENTS
USAspending.gov · Oct 1, 2025
Department of Homeland Security — $4,732,197: TASK ORDER FOR MR-UAS INSTALLATION AND DEPLOYMENT SERVICES FOR COAST GUARD NATIONAL SECURITY CUTTERS.
USAspending.gov · May 27, 2026
Sources
Every claim traced to a primary source — evidence, recent activity, and insider filing behavior, all in one place.
Evidence
3 sources
- TechCrunch — Shield AI lands $12.7B valuation, up 140%, after US Air Force dealnews
- Shield AI corporate site — Shield AI completes acquisition of Aechelon Technologycompany
- Benzinga — Shield AI wins contract to supply Hivemind autopilot software for Anduril's Fury fighter jetnews
Acquisition & Investment Fit
AI-reasoned, generated only from entities already in InsightNodes's own graph — a hypothetical strategic-fit exercise, not real M&A intelligence or a signal that any deal is planned or in progress.
Relationship Map
The relationships surrounding Shield AI — ownership, dependencies, regulation, technology and market context. Click any node to make it the new center, 2 levels deep.
Connection type
Click any node to make it the new center. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan.
The Story So Far (last 6 months)
Auto-generated from this entity's dated milestones, relationship updates, and sourced evidence — not AI-written, just sorted.
Market Intelligence
UnverifiedCredibly-reported claims — analyst notes, sourcing citing “people familiar with the matter,” deals where the companies involved declined to comment — that haven't been officially confirmed. Kept structurally separate from the sourced evidence above; treat as a lead worth researching further, not an established fact.
Initial Bloomberg report cited a $1B raise at $12B valuation, below the eventual confirmed round
30% confidenceOn February 13, 2026, Bloomberg reported Shield AI was 'in talks' to raise as much as $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation, citing people familiar with the effort; the round that actually closed the following month was larger on both dimensions ($1.5 billion at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation).
The February figures were attributed to people familiar with early-stage talks rather than a company announcement and were explicitly described as still being negotiated; the terms that ultimately closed in March differed from the initially reported figures, confirming the February report captured a preliminary, unconfirmed stage of the negotiation.
Bloomberg · Feb 13, 2026
Shield AI's Timeline
A sourced, dated history of Shield AI's key moments — founding to present.
Mar 2026 · $1.5B Series G at $12.7B valuation
Shield AI raised a $1.5 billion Series G round at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation (up 140% year-over-year), led by Advent International, alongside $500 million in Blackstone preferred equity following a US Air Force deal.
May 2026 · Wins Air Force CCA production contract and LUCAS low-cost drone selection
Shield AI was awarded a US Air Force production contract to implement its Hivemind mission-autonomy software on the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, and was separately selected by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering to integrate Hivemind onto the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a new class of low-cost one-way attack drones. Shield AI ranked No. 49 on CNBC's 2026 Disruptor 50 list and had approximately 1,480 employees worldwide as of March 2026.
Jun 2026 · Acquires Aechelon Technology
Shield AI completed its acquisition of Aechelon Technology, a leader in high-fidelity simulation, physics-based sensor modeling, and synthetic reality technologies.