XTEND secures $40M to redefine robotics with AI-powered common sense – sUAS News – The Business of Drones

XTEND, the developer of XOS, an AI-driven operating system that is revolutionizing the way humans interact with drones and robots, today announced its $40M Series B round, led by Chartered Group, with further participation from its existing and new strategic investors, including Clal-Tech. The new funding will further develop XTEND’s proprietary XOS operating system and its application in various time-consuming, dangerous enterprise and security scenarios worldwide. XTEND will also ramp up global sales of its own drones and robotics products.

XTEND provides a revolutionary human-supervised, AI-driven drone and robot operating system that enables operators to perform highly complex and dynamic missions in any environment with minimal training. When drones and robots are controlled by XTEND’s patented XOS operating system – which fuses the best of human intelligence and machine autonomy – it provides a new way for logistics, public safety, inspection, defense, and security professionals to interact with machines effectively from a safe distance. 

XTEND’s team believes that as the use of drones and robots become more prevalent, professional human oversight remains crucial, and therefore developing a seamless collaboration between humans and AI, where each play to their strengths for optimal results, is vital. Aviv Shapira, co-founder, and CEO, explains: “Robots and drones promise to transform everything from factories to our homes. However, a significant hurdle remains – equipping them with the common-sense abilities to deal with the unpredictable nature of real-world situations, understand their surroundings, and make decisions based on that information. XOS uses AI to enable robots to learn from data and experience. Training them to identify objects, navigate complex environments, and interact with humans safely. We are unlocking the true potential of robotics in complex scenarios, including first response, search and rescue, logistics, critical infrastructure inspection, defense, and security.”

“Our XOS operating system is based on “Practical Human Supervised Autonomy” which empowers drones and robots to handle specific tasks autonomously – entering buildings, scanning floors, or even pursuing suspects. However, crucially, it allows the “common sense” decisions – like judging situations or adapting to unforeseen circumstances – to remain in the hands of human supervisors. This human-machine teaming allows our robots to work alongside supervisors, who can manage dozens of robots simultaneously, and learn from that experience. That is why we believe that XOS will become the operating system of choice for anyone looking to maximize their robotic systems’ potential while decreasing the risks posed to their teams’ lives or concerns around lack of human oversight.”

Hundreds of XTEND’s drone and robotics systems are already operationally deployed worldwide, and the company is continuously developing its XOS operating system and those platforms to deliver the future of human-machine teaming. XOS is hardware agnostic, which allows it to control all sorts of platforms, including third party devices, complement existing technology, or create entirely new systems from scratch. XOS’s open architecture means that it can host applications developed by other companies, too. 

Matteo Shapira, co-founder, and CXO, adds: “Unlike self-driving cars, which operate in a world with mostly known rules and scenarios, XTEND specializes in enabling operations in “hypervariable” environments. Take a last-mile delivery robot. It can navigate autonomously indoors and outdoors but might need human help finding an office building entrance or understanding floor layouts to reach the elevator or stairway. These environments present limitless situations with the potential for the unexpected, requiring human-level decision-making skills specific to each profession. XTEND’s core technology, XOS, is built around this human-machine partnership. We are continually adding new “AI SKILLS” to our system, and those skills will allow robots to handle a growing portion of missions and tasks, freeing up human supervisors to manage more missions simultaneously, at scale.”

Eyal Agmoni, Founder and Chairman of Chartered Group, said: “We believe that the companies bringing the value of AI to massive and complex industries, such as robotics and drone operations, will be the tech giants of the 21st century. Having observed XTEND’s remarkable achievements thus far, we truly believe in the company’s potential to become the world leader in robotics and drone operations, and AI.” 

XOS has been developed for multiple markets, including logistics, public safety, inspection, and security. The U.S. Department of Defense Special Forces and Israel’s Ministry of Defense tier-1 units have also chosen XTEND for multiple multi-million-dollar programs to develop and deliver its systems for operational evaluation, so the company’s technology is already being used by some of the best in the business.

About XTEND
XTEND provides revolutionary human-guided autonomous machine systems that enable any operator to perform extremely accurate manoeuvres and actions, in any environment with minimal training. The company’s patented XOS operating system fuses the best of human intelligence and machine autonomy to enhance the operator’s abilities, and simultaneously reduce the need for physical confrontation, thereby minimizing casualties and injuries. Hundreds of XTEND’s systems are already operationally deployed worldwide, and the company is continuously developing its XOS operating system and platforms to deliver the future of human-machine teaming to defense, HLS, and security professionals worldwide. Find out more here.

https://vimeo.com/802995851/2554c5485a – this footage shows XTEND’s team using drones and our XOS operating system to help with the recent rescue effort in Turkey. XOS enabled these drones to be operated in unsafe, confined, hard to reach spaces. Utilising additional cutting-edge technology, including robotic arms and thermal cameras, to enhance each drone’s rescue capacity. While this mission was carried out by XTEND’s own team, XOS enables anyone to easily connect and interact within remote environments using drones and other smart machines, without the need for prior knowledge or training.

About Chartered Group
Chartered Group is an innovative global private equity firm providing extraordinary global investment funds and opportunities for a greener and more digitalized world across several disciplinaries with its VC of Disruptive Technologies as its cutting edge. Chartered is all about exposing accredited and institutional investors to the most extraordinary global investments and opportunities. As a global private equity firm, Chartered cut through the investment noise to deliver a variety of savvy financial products and services that not only support a greener and more digitalized world but also leverage robust financial returns, one tailored strategy at a time. To learn more please visit www.charteredgroup.com.