Consortium will accelerate “edge-first” technical frameworks and trusted supply chain standards for defense and allied nations

PRINCETON, N.J., March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Latent AI, the global leader in edge AI solutions, is leading a new Defense Working Group in partnership with the EDGE AI FOUNDATION, focused on advancing mission-critical edge AI capabilities for defense and government operations. The working group, chaired by Latent AI CTO and co-founder Sek Chai, represents the first consortium dedicated specifically to the technical and policy challenges of deploying artificial intelligence at the tactical edge of defense.

The initiative will be formally introduced during EDGE AI San Diego 2026 from March 24–26, and will convene afterward, bringing together established technology providers, emerging startups, and defense stakeholders to address the engineering, procurement, and national security considerations unique to edge AI in operational environments.

The working group will also explore a number of key challenges to adoption at scale, including:

• A trusted “Blue Edge” framework, analogous to the Department of War’s Blue UAS initiative, which provides procurement officers with a vetted list of approved drone vendors. Applying a similar model to edge AI hardware and software stacks would provide acquisition professionals with greater clarity and confidence when evaluating trusted, defense-grade AI solutions.
• Supply chain assurance, including trusted component sourcing and rare earth dependencies, elevating the conversation beyond engineering into broader national security and policy considerations. While initially focused on U.S. defense needs, the framework is designed to support NATO and allied nations facing similar operational requirements.

This will be the first defense-focused discussion for the edge AI community. At the event, Sek Chai will lead a panel discussion titled “Mission Critical Edge AI for Defense Industries,” examining how defense and aerospace organizations can adopt an edge-first approach from both technology and policy perspectives, geared towards bolstering information sharing between private and federal edge AI innovators. Panel participants include Ret. Rear Admiral Doug Small (ret), Naval Information Warfare Systems Center’s Senior Scientific Technical Manager for Data Science Charles Yetman, Accenture Federal Services Managing Director of Defense and Intelligence Ana Olson, and Tricia Fitzmaurice, president, WindRiverX. The Defense Working Group also includes representatives from key organizations including Qualcomm, Dell, Syntiant, Embedl and Expanso.

A central theme of the Defense Working Group’s effort will be advancing an “edge first” mindset over traditional “cloud first” architectures. For mission-critical defense applications, building for the edge from the outset, rather than retrofitting cloud-centric models, is essential to ensuring resilience, security, and operational performance.

While AI innovation has accelerated rapidly in cloud and enterprise settings, defense missions demand a fundamentally different approach. Edge AI systems must operate in denied, degraded, intermittent and low-bandwidth (DDIL) environments, under strict size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints, and within highly regulated supply chains. The Defense Working Group will focus on two primary objectives: accelerating collaboration around technical ecosystem challenges specific to mission-critical deployments and raising awareness of edge AI capabilities within defense policy and acquisition communities worldwide.

Latent AI was selected to chair the Defense Working Group due to its position at the intersection of federal defense programs and commercial edge AI innovation. The Silicon Valley startup maintains active contracts across the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army, while cultivating a growing ecosystem of commercial technology partnerships. This dual vantage point enables Latent AI to help translate commercial innovation into mission-ready defense capabilities and serve as a connector between the defense and broader edge AI communities.

Sek Chai, CTO and co-founder, Latent AI, said: “Mission-critical AI cannot be an afterthought to cloud-first design principles. Edge deployments require deliberate architectural decisions around optimization, orchestration, hardware constraints, and supply chain integrity. This working group is about building consensus on what ‘edge first’ truly means from both a technical and policy standpoint, ensuring systems are engineered for the environments where they must actually operate.”

Pete Bernard, CEO, EDGE AI FOUNDATION, said: “The EDGE AI FOUNDATION was established to advance practical, real-world AI deployment. Defense and national security represent some of the most demanding edge environments in existence. Latent AI’s leadership in both commercial and defense edge AI uniquely positions the company to chair this working group and help define the standards and frameworks that will shape mission-critical deployments moving forward.”

To learn more about the Defense Working Group and Latent AI’s participation at Edge AI 2026, visit here and check out Latent AI’s deep-dive blog.

About Latent AI

Latent AI delivers edge AI solutions that enable rapid deployment of artificial intelligence capabilities on any device. Founded in 2018, the company’s developer platform helps government and commercial organizations implement efficient, secure AI solutions at the edge. Latent AI’s tools enable developers to build and update secure, adaptive models for field or laboratory use, serving defense and commercial customers. For more information, visit latentai.com.

About the EDGE AI FOUNDATION
The EDGE AI FOUNDATION (a California-based 501c3) is the world’s largest community of edge AI developers, technology makers and academia, serving as the global hub for energy-efficient edge AI technologies. From tinyML to agentic AI, physical AI and neuromorphic computing, we’re transforming AI at the network’s edge and uniting industry leaders and to drive innovation, solve global challenges, and democratize AI technologies. Learn more at www.edgeaifoundation.org.

Media Contact:

Max Holden
Force4 Technology Communications
[email protected]

Lia LoBello Reynolds
EDGE AI FOUNDATION Communications
[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/latent-ai-to-chair-defense-working-group-with-edge-ai-foundation-to-advance-mission-critical-edge-ai-302716082.html

SOURCE Latent AI