Technology
Air Force secretary plans to ride in AI-operated F-16 fighter aircraft this spring
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told members of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday that he plans to ride in the cockpit of an aircraft operated by artificial intelligence to experience the technology of the military branch’s future fleet.
Kendall spoke before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel on Tuesday, where he spoke about the future of air warfare being dependent on autonomously operated drones.
In fact, the Air Force secretary is pushing to get over 1,000 of the AI-operated drones and plans to let one of them take him into the air later this spring.
The aircraft he plans to board will be an F-16 which was converted for drone flight.
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U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations Committee he plans to ride in an autonomously driven aircraft during the spring. (Senate Appropriations)
“There will be a pilot with me who will just be watching, as I will be, as the autonomous technology works,” Kendall said. “Hopefully neither he nor I will be needed to fly the airplane.”
Last month, the Pentagon said it was looking to develop new artificial intelligence-guided planes, offering two contracts for several private companies to compete against each other to obtain.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) project is part of a $6 billion program that will add at least 1,000 new drones to the Air Force. The drones will be designed to deploy alongside human-piloted jets and provide cover for them, acting as escorts with full weapons capabilities. The drones could also act as scouts or communications hubs, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
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A Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat fighter-like drone is kept on display at the Australian International Airshow, in Avalon, Australia February 28, 2023. (Reuters/Jamie Freed)
The companies bidding for the contract include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril Industries.
Cost-cutting is one of the elements of AI that appeals to the Pentagon for pursuing the project.
In August 2023, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said deployed AI-enabled autonomous vehicles would provide “small, smart, cheap and many” expendable units to the U.S. military, helping overhaul the “too-slow shift of U.S. military innovation.”
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A model of a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial drone vehicle is displayed during the Farnborough International Airshow 2022 on July 19, 2022, in Farnborough, England. Farnborough International Airshow 2022 will host leading innovators from the aerospace, aviation and defense industries. (John Keeble/Getty Images)
Military officials have been mum on what the drones will actually look like in terms of size – full-sized planes or smaller.
But the idea is to not fall too far behind China, which has modernized its air defense systems, which are much more sophisticated and put manned planes at risk when they get too close.
Drones have the potential of interrupting such defense systems and could be used to jam them or provide surveillance for crews.
“The initial role for the aircraft was going to be counter-air, but it will have the potential to do other things,” Kendall said during the hearing.
He also said the new drone fleet will likely be cheaper than having new manned jets created. The goal is to have the drones cost about a third or less than the $20 million it costs to build an F-35 fighter.
Peter Aitken of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Technology
Meta’s glasses will turn off the camera if you tamper with the privacy light
Amid public backlash over its smart glasses, Meta announced that it will be updating its glasses with a new feature that will disable the camera when it detects that someone has tampered with or destroyed the glasses’ privacy LED light. The update is meant to address modders who have taken actions such as physically drilling into the LED light.
Meta has previously tried to discourage tampering with the LED light. For example, starting with its second generation glasses, blocking the light with tape or other objects will trigger a prompt asking users to uncover the recording light. However, many modders have found various workarounds for that particular measure.
Meta’s VP of wearables Alex Himel told The Verge that the privacy-focused update was on the way a few weeks ago after launching cheaper Meta Glasses without Ray-Ban branding. At the time, Himel acknowledged that the company was aware of increasing misuse alongside wider adoption of the devices.
Technology
Discord accidentally banned over 8,000 people for posting grids and other ‘benign’ images
Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Discord co-founder and chief technology officer, writes that the bug impacted around 200 users who posted “grid-like” pictures, in addition to about 8,000 people who posted “other benign images” since May 2026. “Everyone affected has now been unbanned,” Vishnevskiy says.
In a thread on X, Discord writes that its safety system is designed to flag content by “matching it against known harmful material.” This system can produce “false positives,” Discord explains, which is when an employee would step in to review the flagged content. But instead of just temporarily preventing the account from uploading content during the review, a glitch led its system to ban users entirely.
“When our staff reviewed and cleared those accounts, the same bug prevented the ban from being lifted automatically, so it just stayed in place,” Discord says.
Technology
Hoto’s PixelDrive screwdriver is down to $60, matching its best price
If your Prime Day purchases included a new desk, TV stand, bookshelf, or other furniture you still haven’t assembled, Hoto’s PixelDrive cordless screwdriver can help speed up the process. It’s currently on sale for $59.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, matching its best price to date.
From tightening loose screws on furniture to repairing electronics, the PixelDrive is designed to handle a wide range of household projects. Hoto includes 30 screwdriver bits that cover many of the most common screw types, all neatly organized in a small cylindrical case. It also offers six adjustable torque settings, allowing you to use less power when working with fragile electronics or increase it when putting together a desk, bookshelf, TV stand, or other furniture. You can also switch between a slower 80RPM mode for more precise work and a faster 200RPM mode with the press of a button.
Hoto also added several features that make assembling projects a little easier. A built-in display lets you quickly check your current torque setting and remaining battery life, while an integrated LED light helps illuminate dim spaces, whether you’re working under a desk or inside a cabinet. The rechargeable 2,000mAh battery also charges over USB-C, so you won’t need to keep buying disposable batteries.
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