Defence Holdings PLC (LSE:ALRT) rose 10% on Tuesday after the company announced a strategic partnership with Whitespace Global to develop artificial intelligence systems for defence and national security.
The collaboration will build software on Whitespace’s Collective OS platform, which is already in use within classified UK defence environments, including a naval vessel.
The first AI product is being developed for the Ministry of Defence, though its details remain confidential.
Defence Holdings will fund early-stage projects and recover costs through revenue sharing once applications are deployed.
Future developments are expected to target areas such as autonomous decision-making, secure intelligence fusion and protection of national infrastructure.
Andrew McCartney, chief technology officer, said the agreement would enable Defence Holdings to deliver “operational capability at unprecedented speed,” underscoring the company’s ambition to establish itself as a leading UK-listed platform in sovereign AI defence technology.
The stock rose 0.042p to 0.48p.