XTEND and its XOS operating system are unlocking the
potential of robots and drones by empowering them with AI and
partnering them with humans – providing them with the 'common
sense' to navigate the unpredictable nature of real-world
situations
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.
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