WindBorne Wins a Hefty US Air Force Contract for Its Balloon Data
A Silicon Valley startup that uses weather balloons and AI to predict the weather won a U.S. military contract worth almost $50 million.
TL;DR
- The U.S. Air Force will purchase data from WindBorne Systems' fleet of autonomous weather balloons.
- The contract is potentially worth up to $49 million, with payment based on data usage.
- WindBorne uses approximately 700 weather balloons to collect atmospheric sensor readings for its AI weather forecasting model.
- This contract is the largest for WindBorne and allows for continued growth and R&D.
- WindBorne is a pioneer in feeding empirical data into deep-learning weather models.
- The company recently released WeatherMesh 6, its latest forecasting model, claiming improved accuracy over traditional models.
- AI weather forecasting is becoming increasingly productive, with models showing potential for greater accuracy than traditional methods.
- WindBorne previously achieved a first by sending an unpowered flight system into the eye of a typhoon to collect data.