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Shield AI selected to bring AI-powered swarming to LUCAS kamikaze drone program

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:28:05 +0000

Shield AI, the defense-tech company building state-of-the-art autonomy software and aircraft, today announced that the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW R&E) has selected Shield AI to integrate its Hivemind autonomy software onto the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a new class of low-cost, one-way attack drones often […]

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Middle East conflict hits Sri Lanka’s tea industry, heightens economic strain

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:21:37 +0000

Tea factory worker Jacintha Malar once relied on cooking gas to prepare meals for her family, but has switched to firewood after the Middle East conflict pushed up energy costs and battered the country’s tea industry. Malar and her husband, a ‌tea plucker in Sri Lanka’s central hills, are among those dependent on Sri Lanka’s […]

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Nigeria busts meth cartel in largest seizure, arrests kingpin

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:15:11 +0000

Nigeria’s anti-drug agency said it had dismantled a methamphetamine syndicate in the largest seizure of its kind in the country, seizing drugs and chemicals ‌worth about $363 million and arresting 10 suspects, including three Mexicans. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said late on Wednesday that coordinated raids on a farm in Ogun state and […]

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Trump says he will speak to Taiwan’s president in break from protocol

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:12:44 +0000

US President Donald Trump says he will talk to Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te about a possible arms sale, in what would be a sharp departure from diplomatic tradition. US and Taiwanese leaders have not spoken directly since 1979 – when Washington severed formal ties with Taiwan to recognise the Chinese government in Beijing. China claims […]

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Iran rebuilding military industrial base faster than expected, already producing drones, according to US intel

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:07:47 +0000

Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, one sign it is rapidly rebuilding certain military capabilities degraded by US-Israeli strikes, according to two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments. Four sources told CNN that US intelligence indicates Iran’s military is reconstituting much faster than […]

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Data centers raise nearby temperatures by up to 4 degrees in Phoenix

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:06:06 +0000

Waste heat from data centers can boost air temperatures in downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, researchers at Arizona State University report in a new study conducted in the Phoenix metro area, the hottest in the U.S. “As we do more measurements under different kinds of atmospheric conditions, I think we’re going […]

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Taiwan Seeks to Detain Three in Nvidia Smuggling Crackdown

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:04:10 +0000

Taiwanese officials are seeking to detain three individuals for forging documents in order to export Nvidia Corp. AI chips to China, the island democracy’s first such crackdown on semiconductor smuggling. The trio is accused of making fraudulent declarations about AI servers manufactured by US-headquartered Super Micro Computer Inc., so that they could ship them to […]

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AI, cybersecurity skills top IT pay premiums

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:01:18 +0000

AI engineering, cybersecurity, governance, data architecture, and distributed systems skills are now commanding the highest cash pay premiums in IT, according to new research from Foote Partners, which reports that employers are placing “increasing value on certifications that validate strategic capability and enterprise-level thinking.” Employers are paying premium bonuses equal to 20% to 24% of […]

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AI upends key pillars of project management

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:58:47 +0000

AI offers the potential for operational efficiencies, reductions in human error, a solution for employee attrition, and split-second analytical recommendations, but the reality is that no one — in the business, outside the business, or even CIOs themselves — knows whatto expect from AI. And still, businesses are aggressively pursuing it, in many cases in […]

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Manus Weighs Raising $1 Billion to Unwind Meta Takeover

OODA OG Analyst — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:56:50 +0000

The co-founders of Manus are exploring options to fulfill Beijing’s demand to unwind a controversial takeover by Meta Platforms Inc., including raising about $1 billion from external investors to buy back the Chinese-founded AI operation. Manus’s three founders — Xiao Hong, Ji Yichao and Zhang Tao — are in discussions about a round of funding […]

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