A €10 million defence AI research centre will be established in Latvia

Author
kursors.lv

September 29, 2026

European defence technology company “NestAI” has announced the opening of a new research and development (R&D) centre in Latvia. As part of the project, the company plans to invest 10 million euros over the coming years and build a team of up to 30 scientists and engineers to develop artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the defence sector in cooperation with the region’s armed forces and partners across NATO’s eastern flank.

Vīrietis pie datora rāda prezentāciju

The new centre’s main task will be to advance adaptive intelligence for unmanned systems and command-and-control systems. Particular attention will be paid to solutions that can operate reliably and continue learning in conditions where the adversary uses electronic warfare capabilities and communications are limited. This work is based on “NestAI’s” operating system “NestOS” – an open and modular platform for modern battlefield operations that can be integrated into various allied systems.

modulāra platforma mūsdienu kaujas lauka operācijām
Illustrative image

Latvia was chosen as a strategic location thanks to the AI and autonomous systems testing environment already established here and the rapidly growing defence funding, which is approaching 5% of GDP. The implementation of the project is supported by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) in cooperation with the Embassy of Latvia in Finland. The company has previously also attracted 100 million euros in investment from the Finnish state investment company “Tesi” and telecommunications giant “Nokia”, with which it is jointly developing next-generation autonomous operations and surveillance solutions.

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