Tech

Planes without a pilot?: new tech redefines the future of flying

Published

5 years ago

May 31, 2021

Natasha Schapova

autonomous flight technology with Merlin labs

New autonomous flight startup says the sky will soon be filled with pilotless planes

Merlin Labs, the Tesla of planes

Aviation technology startup Merlin labs recently announced they’ve secured $25 million in funding for the development of their pilotless planes.

The company recently struck a deal with aviation services contractor Dynamic Aviation, with potential to expand their tech to commercial flights.

“What we’re working on is creating a truly autonomous digital pilot”
Merlin Labs CEO Matt George

As part of this deal, Merlin Labs will supply its autonomous flight technology to 55 of the contractor’s King Air aircraft. The company says it’s already conducting test flights with the first King Air plane.

Merlin Labs CEO Matt George said the company’s goal is to be able to fly planes totally unmanned. The new technology will use enable existing aircraft to “fly autonomously,” he said.

How does the technology work?

The autonomous flight technology that allows Merlin’s aircraft to fly without a pilot is pretty simple, George says.

“The reason that that autonomy up in the air is so much easier is that you have complete vision, at least in the United States, of everything that’s up in the sky, with ground based radar,” he said.

Merlin says it envisions the role of remote pilots as supervisory, monitoring dozens of aircraft in the sky at once. George says the “vast majority of tasks” will be left to autonomous software, including communication with air traffic control and navigation.

https://twitter.com/ShrugCap/status/1397608842100449283?s=20

Safety of autonomous flying

Merlin Labs “doesn’t believe in remote piloting”. If the aircraft loses signal with the remote operator, then you would have “a huge chunk of metal hurtling through the sky,” he told The Verge.

It may come as a surprise that this autonomous flight technology is not quite as new as it seems. It’s actually quite common for planes to have some level of autopilot capability.

In 2016, the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General released a damning report. It called out the FAA for failing to ensure pilots receive enough training in manual flying.

George believes that pilotless planes will increase the overall safety of flying. This comes amid ongoing safety investigations into Tesla’s autopilot feature.

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Natasha Schapova

Natasha is an Associate Producer at ticker NEWS with a Bachelor of arts from Monash University. She has previously worked at Sky News Australia and Monash University as an Online Content Producer.

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Tech

Claude AI is transforming software engineering and productivity

Anthropic’s Claude AI now manages coding tasks, boosting productivity by 50% as engineers shift to oversight roles.

Published

2 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Harvey Vargas

Anthropic’s Claude AI now manages coding tasks, boosting productivity by 50% as engineers shift to oversight roles.

Anthropic has confirmed that its AI, Claude, now handles almost all coding tasks at the company. Engineers are shifting from writing code to oversight and planning, marking a major change in how software development teams operate.

Users report a productivity boost of 50 percent since implementing Claude, highlighting the potential of AI to reshape workflows and day-to-day operations. The shift raises questions about the balance between human oversight and automated code generation.

The move has also affected markets, with shares of Indian IT services companies falling as investors assess the impact on traditional tech roles. Industry leaders stress that while AI can generate code, human input remains crucial for design, review, and strategic decision-making.

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Tech

OpenAI and Anthropic launch faster, smarter AI tools for enterprise coding

OpenAI and Anthropic launch advanced coding models, revolutionizing enterprise software development and intensifying the AI tooling competition.

Published

3 days ago

February 6, 2026

Harvey Vargas

OpenAI and Anthropic launch advanced coding models, revolutionising enterprise software development and intensifying the AI tooling competition.

OpenAI and Anthropic have unveiled powerful new AI coding models aimed at transforming enterprise software development. GPT-5.3 Codex operates 25% faster than its predecessor, tackling complex tasks and following real-time directions without losing context.

Claude Opus 4.6 introduces ‘agent teams’, allowing multiple AI agents to work on tasks simultaneously. The update also includes a one-million-token context window, enabling large volumes of text and code to be processed in a single prompt.

GitHub now supports multiple coding agents, letting developers compare AI approaches on the same problems. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing for enterprise adoption, highlighting the potential for professional applications across industries.

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#AI #MachineLearning #TechNews #EnterpriseTech #OpenAI #Anthropic #SoftwareDevelopment #Coding

Tech

Nvidia and Amazon explore massive OpenAI funding round

Nvidia CEO downplays $100B OpenAI investment, as Amazon eyes $50B stake in AI startup

Published

1 week ago

February 2, 2026

Harvey Vargas

Nvidia CEO downplays $100B OpenAI investment, as Amazon eyes $50B stake in AI startup

In Short:
– OpenAI aims to raise up to $100 billion, with Amazon considering a $50 billion investment.
– Funding will support Project Stargate and address projected losses of $14 billion by 2026.

Nvidia’s CEO has confirmed the company will participate in a major funding round for OpenAI, though the previously mentioned $100 billion commitment is not final.

This investment comes as OpenAI seeks to raise up to $100 billion, potentially valuing the AI startup at around $830 billion. Amazon is also reportedly in discussions to contribute up to $50 billion.

The funding is intended to support OpenAI’s ambitious $500 billion Project Stargate, aimed at pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence.

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