BREAKING: How AI Reaches the Most Extreme Parts of the World | Armada
From U.S. Navy Ships & Saudi Deserts to the Alaskan Arctic
How AI Reaches the Most Extreme Parts of the World
From U.S. Navy Ships & Saudi Deserts to the Alaskan Arctic
Dan Wright, CEO of Armada joins me for a walk/talk at the Reagan National Defense Forum to share why the global race for AI sovereignty will shape the future of power. And how Armada partners with SpaceX, OpenAI, Saudi Aramco, U.S. Navy, MSFT & more, to reach every edge.
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Key Points
Reaching the edge with Starlink, Starshield, SpaceX IPO, data centers in space
70% of the world does not have access to AI, Armada changes that
Modular data centers vs hyperscaler data centers
U.S. vs China AI stack
American AI dominance
Armada has raised $200M+ in total funding from top investors like Founders Fund, Dragon Global, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, Microsoft’s M12, Overmatch, Silent Ventures, Felicis, & Marlinspike. With more recent strategic participation from investors: Pinegrove, Veriten, & Glade Brook.
Armada’s partners include Microsoft, Starlink, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Nokia, Red Hat, Carahsoft, AVEVA, Esri, Halliburton, Skydio, & more
Cheers.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Dan Wright, CEO Armada
(01:12) Armada: an edge hyperscaler deploying modular AI data centers
(04:28) Partnering with SpaceX, Microsoft, Skydio, and OpenAI
(05:47) Deploying AI in extreme environments: Ocean, Desert, Arctic & Space
(08:11) SpaceX IPO rumors and Starlink’s rapid expansion
(12:10) The AI dominance white paper and US vs China infrastructure
(14:54) Edge compute, latency, and real world response at scale
(17:43) Armada’s roadmap for 2026
Extreme AI: At the Edge of the Earth
Filmed at the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Reagan National Library, Molly walks with Dan Wright, CEO of Armada, to unpack why the next era of AI infrastructure will not live only in hyperscale cloud campuses – it will move into the physical world.
Armada calls itself the hyperscaler for the edge. The company builds modular AI factories that bring compute, connectivity, storage, and real world AI into environments where latency, security, and reliability are mission critical. Dan shares how Armada started with SpaceX as an early point of entry, why Starlink fundamentally changed what is deployable around the globe, and how Armada is pairing connectivity with infrastructure to bring the most powerful AI models to places that have never had access before.
The conversation spans Armada’s partnerships with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Skydio, plus what it takes to deploy in extreme environments, from U.S. Navy operations at sea to the Saudi desert with Aramco Digital, and all the way to Alaska for real time disaster response. Dan also lays out the geopolitics of AI infrastructure, why he believes the world will run on either the U.S. AI stack or the Chinese AI stack, and why exporting infrastructure to allies is central to winning that race.
We also go long on space. Dan explains why data centers in space are coming, why Starship is a prerequisite for lunar and planetary industry, and why compute becomes unavoidable once you imagine robots building bases on the Moon and later Mars. He also reacts to the ongoing SpaceX IPO speculation for 2026 and why broader access to SpaceX would matter if it happens.
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Top 10 Quotes / Takeaways
1. Armada’s dominant positioning
“Armada is the hyperscaler for the edge… we’re taking the most powerful AI models and moving them to the edge faster, better, cheaper, and more flexibly than anybody else.”
2. The global AI access gap
“70% of the world does not have access to AI… and the mission of Armada is to bridge the digital divide and fill that gap.”
3. SpaceX and Starlink as Armada’s wedge
“We started the company working with SpaceX… we’re the first mover on infrastructure, and that partnership works because we complement the connectivity with the infrastructure and the AI.”
4. Partnerships as the growth engine
“Partnerships are a key part of our strategy… taking these capabilities, bringing them together at the edge in a turnkey way for people solving the most important problems on the ground.”
Armada’s partners include Microsoft, Starlink, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Nokia, Red Hat, Carahsoft, AVEVA, Esri, Halliburton, Skydio, & more
5. Hyperscale data centers vs modular AI factories
“Hyperscale data centers take years… construction, permitting, supply chain. With us, you can deploy in months… and they’re mobile, so if needs change, you can move them around.”
6. AI moving from chatbots to real-world operations
“These powerful models are moving from consumers and knowledge workers to operations on the ground… where decisions can impact life and death or billions of dollars.”
7. Extreme real-world deployments (Navy, Saudi Arabia, Alaska)
“We deployed the first modular data center in the Saudi desert with Aramco and Microsoft… we’re running edge compute on Navy ships… and in Alaska we cut drone data processing from 30 hours to real time.”
8. The U.S. vs China AI stack race
“In a few years, the world will run on either the U.S. AI stack or the Chinese AI stack… and I don’t want to live in a world running on the Chinese AI stack.”
9. AI dominance, government, and exporting infrastructure
“If tech is working with the government, good things will happen… we need to deploy infrastructure fast, put American energy to work for AI, and export it to our allies faster than China can.”
10. Data centers in space and Starship
“Data centers in space are coming… if SpaceX’s Starship is going to the Moon and Mars, you’re going to need large amounts of compute.”
Biggest Lesson from Ronald Reagan: Leadership & National Strength
“I admire that he was able to unify people… he chose to serve the country… and wasn’t afraid to stick up his hand and say, ‘I’m going to serve my country and make sure the U.S. remains the world’s foremost superpower.’”
Want more from Armada? Check out our previous pieces
BREAKING: Armada Raises $131M to Launch Leviathan Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, M12, Pinegrove, Veriten, Glade Brook, Overmatch, Silent Ventures, Felicis, Marlinspike
Dan Wright, CEO Armada | Trae Stephens Next Big Bet $100M For The New Edge & Bridging the Digital Divide
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Hey, great read as always. It's trully fascinating to see how they're planning to bring AI to the remotest parts of the world, that's a massive undertaking. And the emphasis on modular data centers makes perfect sense for such an ambitious, distributed deployment.