When you hear "AI weapons," you might picture Terminator-style machines making life-and-death calls without a human in sight. But Aviv Shapira, CEO of XTEND (XTND), says that's not where the industry is headed. In an exclusive email interview, he told MarketDash that the future is about humans and AI working together, not AI going solo.
AI Weapons Aren't Going Where You Think, XTEND CEO Says
MarketDash
XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira says AI weapons are evolving toward human-guided autonomy, not fully independent decision-making.
Get Market Alerts
Weekly insights + SMS alerts
The Future of AI Weapons
Shapira pushed back on the idea that autonomous weapons are on a path to fully independent lethal decision-making. "That is a misconception, at least in terms of where the industry is today," he said.
Instead, he sees autonomy as a spectrum, not a binary. AI can already stabilize aircraft, navigate without GPS, dodge obstacles, coordinate with other systems, or handle parts of a mission without constant human input. But that doesn't mean humans are out of the picture for the big calls.
XTEND, he noted, already operates at Level 3 and Level 4 autonomy, where AI takes on increasingly complex tasks while operators stay responsible for critical decisions. That's a key distinction: it's about augmenting people, not replacing them.
Why Human Control Matters
Shapira describes XTEND's philosophy as "human-guided autonomy." The idea is that AI should handle the speed, complexity, and dangerous physical tasks it's better suited for, while keeping authorized humans in control of consequential decisions.
"We don't need to remove the human from the loop to make autonomy transformational," he said. That statement cuts to the heart of one of the biggest fears about defense AI.
Management's comments suggest that autonomy's real value is in reducing cognitive load and improving operational effectiveness, not in handing lethal authority to machines. Framing AI as a decision-support tool rather than an autonomous decision-maker could also help address some of the sector's most pressing ethical and regulatory concerns.
Why It Matters
As defense companies rush to deploy AI-enabled systems, investors may start to separate the firms chasing full autonomy from those focused on human-guided autonomy. If Shapira's view reflects the broader industry direction, the competitive edge might come from building trusted AI that makes operators better, not from cutting humans out of the loop.
For investors, that's a nuance worth watching. The companies that succeed may be the ones that figure out how to make AI a reliable partner, not a replacement.
More News
AfD's Historic Win and $97 Oil Shake European Markets as Wall Street Takes a Day Off
Iran and Oman Close to Deal on Safe Shipping Lanes in Strait of Hormuz
Bessent Sees Oil at $40-$50 Post-Iran War, Schiff Says Don't Believe It
Nvidia's Hugging Face Deal Is About More Than Just Chips
Germany's Far-Right Election Win: A Headache for Investors?
Elon Musk's Boring Company Has an Unusual Requirement for Its New Funding Round
Oracle's Biggest AI Risk May No Longer Be Spending
Why Rising Bond Yields May Be Just 'Noise' For Stocks, Jordi Visser Says
Get Market News Alerts
Real-time alerts on price moves, news, and trading opportunities.
Join 20,000+ investors. No spam, ever.
Featured Articles
View all newsAfD's Historic Win and $97 Oil Shake European Markets as Wall Street Takes a Day Off
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Iran and Oman Close to Deal on Safe Shipping Lanes in Strait of Hormuz
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Bessent Sees Oil at $40-$50 Post-Iran War, Schiff Says Don't Believe It
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Nvidia's Hugging Face Deal Is About More Than Just Chips
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Germany's Far-Right Election Win: A Headache for Investors?
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Elon Musk's Boring Company Has an Unusual Requirement for Its New Funding Round
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Oracle's Biggest AI Risk May No Longer Be Spending
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026
Why Rising Bond Yields May Be Just 'Noise' For Stocks, Jordi Visser Says
By MarketDash
September 7, 2026