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How ex-Google CEO emerged as Ukraine's unlikely friend & helped take down Russian drones

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and co-founder of Swift Beat, has emerged as an unlikely friend of Ukraine. While tech giants like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, Schmidt's company's interceptor drones have helped the country take down Russian drones. Here's how. read more Eric Schmidt speaks onstage during the 2024 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo:via AFP) Even as Western technology giants like SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has emerged as a key partner of Ukraine in the war with Russia. Earlier this month, Schmidt met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Denmark and signed a deal for the joint production of artificially intelligence (AI)-driven interceptor drones. Schmidt's company Swift Beat has provided three types of interceptor drones to Ukraine that have taken down up to 90 per cent of Russian drones that they have encountered, according to Ukrainian-language outlet Ekonomichna Pravda (EP). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'These drones are highly accurate' A source told EP that Swift Beat's interceptor drones are 'are extremely accurate in identifying Russian drones in the night sky'. In recent months, Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine with near-daily assaults with hundreds of drones and missiles. Officials told the outlet that Swift Beats' three types of interceptor drones have taken down roughly 90 per cent of Russia's Iranian-origin Shahed drones. Swift Beat's drones are said to be equipped with advanced AI targeting technology and a secure communication system that has so far proven resistant to Russian electronic warfare, the report said. The collaboration between Schmidt's Swift Beat and Ukraine has presented a win-win situation where both sides have benefitted — as opposed to the likes of satellite internet-provider SpaceX-owned Starlink and satellite imagery-provider Maxar that led to Ukraine's dependency. Under the arrangement with Swift Beat, while Ukraine has got interceptor drones with high precision, Swift Beat has had an opportunity for the testing and fine-tuning of its products. Contrary to such a mutually-beneficial arrangement, Ukraine's dependence on other Western tech giants meant that when Elon Musk ordered the shutdown of Starlink in Ukraine's Kherson region in 2022, it compromised Ukraine's ongoing counter-offensive. Similarly, earlier this year, after US President Donald Trump suspended military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, Maxar was ordered to stop providing satellite imagery to Ukraine.