Pentagon pressure to move AI faster drives Smack's new funding round, CEO says

Smack Technologies, a defense-technology startup developing AI decision-making tools for the military, is raising $61 million in a Series B round to speed production of its Omega system and to build wearable AI hardware for battlefield use, CEO Andy Markoff said. The funding comes after the Defense Department labeled Anthropic a “supply-chain risk” in March, prompting military branches to diversify AI vendors. Markoff said the Marine Corps and Navy pushed Smack to accelerate production after those Anthropic concerns. Omega shortens the Marine Corps’ fires-planning process, generating options in minutes and adapting in real time as battlefield elements change. Smack also won two prototyping contracts in July with the Joint Fires Network and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. The company plans to target 10 to 20 prototype units over the next six months.