Booz Allen Hamilton [BAH] on Monday said it has invested in a Silicon Valley-based startup company that enables artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and data compression at the tactical edge.
The investment in Latent AI, Inc.
is the first for Booz Allen’s technology scouting group that examined more than 1,000 companies in the past year. Booz Allen didn’t disclose the value of the investment.
Latent AI, founded in 2018, has developed the Latent IA Efficient Inference Platform, a scalable AI development platform that allows adaptable AI application development at the tactical edge.
Booz Allen said its investment brings Latent AI’s platform to government clients for the first time.
“The National Defense Strategy calls for a more innovative, resilient military to maintain the U.S. competitive advantage, and the ability to collect, analyze and quickly act on data is at the core of that national security mission,” Steve Escaravage, senior vice president at Booz Allen, said in a statement. “To fully leverage a force that is interconnected and information-advantaged, defense organizations need optimized, scalable AI and data compression at the tactical edge. Booz Allen’s investment in Latent IA will help enable our clients to implement ML models on small form factor chip-sets and into highly sought-after end user devices, which will increase AI adoption and return on investment.”
Latent AI was spun out of SRI International as an early-stage startup and its investors include Future Ventures, Autotech Ventures, Perot Jain, and others.
Brian MacCarthy, founder of the technology scouting group and vice president at Booz Allen, said “This investment enhances the ability of both Latent AI and Booz Alen to meet the evolving needs of clients, particularly in deploying algorithms to the edge for JADCS to prevail in the future digital battlefield.”
JADC2 refers to Joint All Domain Command and Control and is an Air Force led effort to create a cross-service digital architecture that is based on artificial intelligence and advanced computing.