How AI drones are influencing the course of the Ukraine war
KYIV, Ukraine — Like many tech entrepreneurs in Ukraine, Yaroslav Azhnyuk turned to developing drone warfare after Russia's 2022 invasion.
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Azhnyuk → influence → invasion
Drones have transformed the way wars are fought.
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wars → transform → way
Azhnyuk says artificial intelligence is making drones faster and more capable.
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drones → say → ?
"When the other side has orders of magnitudes higher capabilities, it gives you an asymmetric advantage," he says.
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he → have → advantage
"It can make you 10,000 times more effective."
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you → make → ?
Azhnyuk runs the Ukraine-based defense firms The Fourth Law and Odd Systems.
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They are among the top companies producing AI-powered drones in Ukraine.
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Dozens of Ukrainian military units already use their autonomous drone, called the Lupynis-10-TFL-1.
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Russia is also deploying AI-enabled drones against Ukraine.
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AI warfare is part of a high-tech arms race that has many worried, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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many → have → Zelenskyy
He has warned that AI could lead decisions on the battlefield as soon as next year.
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Azhnyuk told NPR that he acknowledges the concern over destructive weapons but says it's not specific to AI.
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it → tell → AI
"It has been with humanity since the invention of fire or steel," he says.
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he → say → fire
"Any kind of tool can be used for good or for bad.
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kind → use → bad
And in the end, it's the human that decides how to use that tool."
Cameras that "fling explosives"
Azhnyuk is 37, a gregarious computer scientist who hails from a family of scholars and scientists.
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NPR meets him in a conference room in Kyiv; for security reasons he asked us not to reveal much else about the location.
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He worked for years in Silicon Valley and started several companies, including Petcube, which makes smartphone-powered cameras that use artificial intelligence to watch and even entertain pets while they're alone.
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they → work → pets
"These cameras allow pet parents to watch pets when they're not at home," he says, "and fling treats to them and shine a laser toy for them.
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We sold a million of these devices that are quite popular in the U.S."
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that → sell → U.S.
After Russia launched its full-scale war, Azhnyuk, by then living in Ukraine, pivoted to the defense space.
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"I was like, OK, I've got to move on from Petcube and do something to protect my country," he says.
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he → get → country
"And so now we're making not cameras that fling treats but cameras that fling explosives at people who came to occupy our land.
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who → make → land
"
The cameras he's talking about are part of an image recognition system incorporated into first-person-view or FPV drones.
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"We are leaders in autonomous drones and thermal cameras," he says.
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A drone named after a poet
The autonomous Lupynis TFL-1 drone combines a small, affordable FPV drone with an autonomous terminal guidance unit.
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That means the drone has an onboard computer and AI technology that takes control during the last 500 meters (or 0.3 miles) of the flight.
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that → mean → flight
"But it's very different from, say, the kind of AI that sits on those data centers that power Claude," he says.
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"Or even the kind of AI that does self-driving for your Tesla."
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Azhnyuk says this AI technology uses simple tools to recognize images and make smart software "which then allows you either to navigate autonomously without a human or to choose a target autonomously or to fly toward the target autonomously.
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you → say → target
The Fourth Law's autonomous drone is named after the 20th century Ukrainian poet and political activist Anatoliy Lupynis, who endured decades of Soviet imprisonment and psychiatric torture.
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who → name → imprisonment
The company named all its weapons after Ukrainian intellectuals and artists killed or persecuted by Russians in the last century.
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"It is important for us to help to resurrect those people," Azhnyuk says.
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And now they're fighting back."
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"The drone is doing everything itself"
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drone → do → everything
The Fourth Law teams test the Lupynis TFL-1 drones every day.
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teams → test → drones
We meet one team in an overgrown field outside Kyiv.
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They've set up a fold-out table near a copse of trees and a hornets' nest.
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A slight, sandy-haired man stands up from the fold-out table and says he's the head of the test and integration team.
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he → stand → team
He uses the military call sign Stab.
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The Fourth Law asked NPR not to reveal this location or the identities of those who work here for security reasons.
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who → ask → reasons
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
