Shield AI and Taiwan-based Thunder Tiger Corp. have completed the first multi-asset maritime demonstration of Shield AI’s Hivemind artificial intelligence pilot, aboard unmanned surface vessels (USVs). The demonstration validated the ability of multiple autonomous maritime platforms to work together during a coordinated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission.
Conducted in Pingtung, Taiwan, the demonstration involved Thunder Tiger’s SeaShark 600 and SeaShark 800 USVs, both equipped with Hivemind autonomy technology. The systems autonomously planned mission routes, searched a designated maritime area, identified a vessel of interest, and coordinated their actions to escort the target vessel outside the assigned search zone.
The trial also marked Hivemind’s first integration with maritime radar and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, expanding the software’s demonstrated capabilities.
A strategic partnership between the two companies was announced in May 2026, which included the integration of Hivemind across Thunder Tiger’s portfolio of unmanned systems, beginning with maritime platforms.
Hivemind’s core characteristics
Hivemind is designed to enable autonomous systems to sense, decide, and act while operating across different environments and platforms. The software has previously been integrated into more than 30 systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, aircraft, and ground vehicles.
By bringing the technology to maritime platforms, the companies aim to develop coordinated teams of autonomous systems capable of supporting missions such as maritime surveillance, information gathering, and distributed operations.
“This demonstration marks an important step forward in advancing resilient, autonomous maritime capabilities, and we expect our partnership with Shield AI to continue delivering increasingly sophisticated autonomous systems that strengthen Taiwan’s defense posture,” said Gene Su, board director and general manager of Thunder Tiger Corp.
Adding more features in the future
The companies are continuing development efforts focused on expanding the capabilities demonstrated during the trial. Future work will explore additional sensor integrations, more advanced autonomous behaviours, larger-scale teaming operations and potential open-ocean applications.
According to Shield AI, Hivemind enables coordinated multi-agent operations, allowing multiple platforms to collaborate dynamically during missions. The company is positioning the technology as a platform-agnostic autonomy solution that can be integrated into different unmanned systems.
Nathan Michael, chief technology officer at Shield AI, said:
“Hivemind continues to prove that true mission autonomy can scale across domains, platforms, and functional assets, unlocking new capabilities for distributed intelligence and maritime security missions.”