Deal would combine JFB manufacturing assets with XTEND’s ‘operating system for the future of robotics’ to create XTEND AI Robotics
By Donny Jackson, Editor, Urgent Communications
Israeli defense company XTEND—developers of a software platform designed to let operators control drones and robots—and JFB Construction Holdings (JFB) have announced an all-stock merger worth US$1.5 billion to create XTEND AI Robotics, which will focus on AI-powered autonomous systems.
An investor-relations contractor for JFB who also has worked closely with XTEND, Sean Morgan said the companies have been collaborating for some time and that the proposed merger has been announced several months ago. But XTEND’s recent successes in securing millions of dollars in defense contracts with the US government and allies—as well as the clearance of some regulatory hurdles—means that the deal could close as early as next month, he said.
“All of this news of XTEND really taking off is recent, and some of the SEC filings and processes have been completed very recently show to investors that this is a real merger, that this is really happening,” Morgan said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications..
“This is not just a memorandum of understanding. This is not preliminary talks. This is in the final stages of the merger.”
At the heart of XTEND’s technology is the XTEND Operating System (XOS), which lets operators “manage multiple air, ground and maritime robotic systems,” according to a press announcement released yesterday. Meanwhile, the company already is using JFB manufacturing facilities in Florida and elsewhere around the world to make its drones and robots, according to Morgan.
When the deal closes, XTEND AI Robotics is expected to be traded on the NASDAQ market, the press release states. While XTEND is best known for its defense-oriented contracts, the AI-powered autonomous systems developed by the proposed merged company also are expected to be used in other mission-critical sectors, according to the press release.
XTEND AI Robotics will be headed by XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira, who is an aerospace engineer with a background in rocket and space systems, according to the press release. Shapira noted the potential importance of AI-powered drones and robots from alleviating the need to risk the well being of humans to conduct some of the more dangerous aspects of military and public-safety missions in unpredictable environments.
“Drones and robots are changing warfare,” Shapira said during an interview with Fox Business conducted in March. “Using AI capabilities and the physical characteristics of drones, you can actually replace humans in the field … The traditional type of war is being changed with this amazing technology.
“That combination of robotics and AI is the future of everything that comes with defense, law enforcement and even private security.”
Shapira said he believe XOS is the “operating system for the future of robotics” during the March interview with Fox Business.
“We actually managed to combine human intelligence with machine autonomy,” Shapira said. “So, the only thing that needs to happen to complete a very dangerous mission is to tell the robot or the drone—or the swarm of robots what [the operator] wants to do, and the system acts accordingly.”
