A startup founded by U.S. Navy veterans has secured its first external funding to apply artificial intelligence to complex acoustic data collected by submarines, aiming to turn murky underwater sounds into actionable intelligence.
Article contents:
- Introduction: AI dives into the deep
- The challenge of passive acoustic data
- Spear AI’s solution: An integrated platform
- Funding and contracts: Trust from investors and the government
- Future prospects: From defense to commerce
- Conclusion: Building the product before the contract
Introduction: AI dives into the deep
A startup founded by U.S. Navy veterans, aiming to help the U.S. military use artificial intelligence to decode data collected by submarines, has closed its first external funding round. Washington-based Spear AI specializes in working with what is known as passive acoustic data, which is data gathered by underwater listening devices.
The challenge of passive acoustic data
The company’s long-term goal is to use artificial intelligence to help submarine operators understand whether a detected object could be a rainstorm, a whale, or a vessel that might pose a threat, as well as determining its location and movement speed. The challenge is that most current AI tools are trained on data like words or images that have been carefully labeled and organized over years or decades by companies such as Scale AI.
Data from acoustic sensors is different. It is messy, unstructured, and noisy. Preparing this type of data for AI algorithms requires an entirely new approach.
Spear AI’s solution: An integrated platform
Spear AI co-founders Michael Hunter, a former analyst who supported Navy SEALs and the Joint Special Operations Command, and Jon McGonigle, a former U.S. Navy nuclear submarine captain, are building a hardware and software platform designed to prepare that data for AI algorithms.
The company sells sensors that can be attached to buoys or ships and a software tool to help categorize and sort the data collected by the sensors, making it ready to feed into AI systems. This integrated approach is key to their success.
Funding and contracts: Trust from investors and the government
This month, the U.S. Navy awarded Spear AI a $6 million contract for its data classification tool. Now, the company has raised $2.3 million from AI-focused venture capital firm Cortical Ventures and private equity firm Scare the Bear.
The funding will be used to double the company’s headcount to support its government contracts and commercial business prospects, such as monitoring underwater pipelines and cables.
Future prospects: From defense to commerce
CEO Hunter said Spear AI also aims to sell consulting services, a model similar to defense tech company Palantir. This opens the door to broad commercial applications, where their technology could be used to monitor critical underwater infrastructure, track marine life for conservation purposes, or even explore natural resources.
Conclusion: Building the product before the contract
Founded in 2021, Spear AI has been self-funded with about 40 employees. Hunter told Reuters: “We wanted to build the product and actually have it out there before the contract came to get it. The only way you can do that is with private capital.” Spear AI’s story demonstrates how deep domain expertise, when paired with a technological vision, can create powerful solutions to difficult problems and attract the attention of both government and private investors.
Frequently asked questions
What is passive acoustic data?
It is acoustic data collected by passively listening to sounds in a given environment (in this case, underwater) rather than sending out a signal and waiting for its echo (like active sonar). It is more discreet but also much harder to interpret.
Why is it difficult for artificial intelligence to analyze this data?
Because it is unstructured and lacks clear labels. Unlike images that can be easily classified (cat, dog), underwater sounds can be ambiguous and overlapping. You need a specialized platform to clean and categorize them before artificial intelligence can make sense of them.
What are the commercial applications of this technology?
In addition to defense, it can be used to monitor the integrity of oil and gas pipelines and undersea cables, track whale migration, study marine ecosystems, and even detect underwater earthquakes.
