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💥 $400 kamikaze drones to swarm Ukraine’s skies soon, vows Ex-Google CEO’s stealth startup

Plus: German rocket to launch from Scottish island, China refines its best atomic click

Away from the public spotlight, former Google head Eric Schmidt has quietly launched a startup called White Stork, a startup which aims to revolutionize warfare with low-cost kamikaze drones that can visually target enemies, even when communication is disrupted or unavailable.

The company specifically aims to fulfill Ukraine’s military needs while building alternative US capabilities to rival Chinese unmanned technology. Learn more about how this secretive startup aims to bring AI to the battlefield in today’s Must Read.

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Founded in 2022 and leveraging covert holding companies, White Stork focuses squarely on rapidly developing affordable AI-guided unmanned vehicles carrying small explosives. Costing just $400 each when manufactured at scale, the drones would offer tactical advantages against Russia despite sophisticated electronic warfare.

Schmidt now pushes the boundaries of technological ethics with this stated aim of countering adversaries. While it remains to be seen if White Stork is successful, the proliferation of cheap intelligent munitions could soon reshape the face of conflicts worldwide. 

German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg plans an ambitious inaugural satellite mission from the UK’s newly licensed SaxaVord spaceport on the Shetland Islands north of Scotland. The 30-meter vehicle will arrive from Germany for local assembly and testing. While the prospect of recovering the rocket after splashdown remains uncertain, it is the first step to matching SpaceX’s swashbuckling efforts.

Chinese researchers built an ultra-precise optical atomic clock leveraging laser-excited strontium atoms, achieving accuracy within a second over 7 billion years. Meeting strict criteria for timekeeping and quantum tech, the breakthrough device claims stability within 2 quintillionths of a second. This falls just short of a US counterpart’s record but still demonstrates China’s rapid progress.

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