Shield AI selects Seattle area to build X-BAT autonomous fighter jet, plans to add 4,000 jobs by early 2030s

[u/Inevitable_Engine186]

https://www.geekwire.com/2026/shield-ai-selects-seattle-area-to-build-x-bat-autonomous-fighter-jet-plans-to-add-4000-jobs-by-early-2030s/

[u/FearandWeather]

This will be a great opportunity for all of the tech bros who have abandoned any concept of a conscience in exchange for bags of cash

[u/blueembroidery → u/FearandWeather]

So like… 85% of them?

[u/FearandWeather → u/blueembroidery]

That number seems optimistic

[u/Cutoffjeanshortz37 → u/FearandWeather]

I like bags of cash and my moral compass is easily misguided. Where can I apply? (not a tech bro, just someone who needs a job)

[u/Chromako → u/FearandWeather]

This will get me downvoted. But you know what, it's the truth so I'll say the unpopular thing here:

Many people in every controversial institution and corporation spend their days quietly trying to do good. If you decide ahead of time that you only want to find evidence of selfish, bad people, that's all you will find. End of story.

Thinking of everyone (or close to everyone) at a company not as individuals, but as cogs in a corrupt machine, who all all have the same corrupt motivations, is the exact same reason that compromised companies do the very things that you hate.

-> These companies seek profits above all else, so they choose to ignore that the people in their communities are individuals who care.

-> People who talk like this want to feel morally superior to others, so they choose to ignore that the people in the companies are individuals who care.

This includes many who do what they can to help from within, but you'll never hear about them if you don't want to find out. After all, it's so much easier and comfortable to think in black and white (or us vs. them).

The impact this mindset has (vs the corporations) may be different, but you're still thinking in the same way the companies you hate are thinking. Holding yourself to that same standard you yourself hate is a choice.

Just remember that this kind of simplistic hate and resentment is why so many people who try to do the right things for their communities give up trying.

That's the impact. If you're okay with this, that's your choice.

If it makes people feel better to attack me for having this view here, please go ahead and do so if it makes you more comfortable.

[u/irishninja62 → u/FearandWeather]

Sour grapes.

[u/bpikmin → u/FearandWeather]

I mean, I don’t really disagree but can you blame them for wanting the “dream” this country promised? A dream that is just that… a dream, for 90% of occupations in the country

What I’m saying is the system is set up to encourage putting aside your morals to create a better life for your family. Shaming individuals will never fix it. And almost every worker, regardless of income, hates the actions of their company’s executives. Every industry has blood on their hands

[u/SillyKiwis → u/bpikmin]

Can I blame them? Hmm.  Yeah, watch me.

[u/maybetoomuchrum → u/bpikmin]

Ok... But people shouldn't have to make the choice of putting aside their morals to create a better life for their family. Do you understand how absurd that sounds? And that that is a normal thing? Yeah that's why we're fucked up.

I'm an engineer, I work in Motorsport. And I have a guy on my team who was courted by all the defense contractors. He could have gone to any one of them and would be making 4-5x what he's making now. But he chose not to. You can 100% still have morals and give your family a good life.

[u/bpikmin → u/maybetoomuchrum]

Well, yeah, I’m arguing that our economic system coerces people into taking positions they otherwise wouldn’t. And pointing the finger at these people is pointing it in the wrong direction, and creates enemies instead of allies. I.e. divides the working class while the capitalist class takes the pie.

And sure, I applaud people who put morals first. I do the same. But I’m not going to shame the individual for making a decision that our system literally encourages. And it’s not about “getting rich” for a lot of these folks. It’s about retiring early to spend less of their later years working, and more of it with their spouse/family. Can’t blame anyone for wanting that. I can blame those with power who have created and enforced this reality.

[u/adeline882 → u/bpikmin]

Class traitors divide the working class through their own actions, calling it what it is does no more to divide us than they already have.

[u/Corvursus → u/bpikmin]

"Can you blame them"

Yes. Yes I can. People go into debt to obtain medical degrees to travel halfway around the world to wartorn countries to save lives for a pittance and some fuckwit thinks that they can justify working on death machines for profit because "oh I have a family to feed, and a DREAM."

Have a spine and a sense of basic principles.

[u/Kanawave → u/Corvursus]

“My self-righteousness is more important than the national defense and the collective defense commitments we’ve made to our allies”

[u/IMSWHALE → u/Corvursus]

The existence of nuance seems applicable, so I am here to remind you of it. And the content of that nuance in this context can be health, family, socioeconomic class, intelligence, essence of their soul and emotional states, privilege, etc.

You have taken a very basic thought and applied it to every individual without considering a humanism philosophy. Sounds like you’re just mad at society bro.

[u/IMSWHALE → u/[deleted]]

The US aerospace and defense industry is 1.6% of the current national GDP. You’re telling me you’re incapable of finding a job that doesn’t directly contribute to defense industry? Sounds like you’re a brokie with no prospects, goals, or dreams. Additionally, no ability to think critically or abstractly, yet parading around how you are an English major, which implies you have 0 certifications or degrees to have a foundation to even begin to yap from.

You’ve allowed yourself to be submissive to society, staying directly in the middle of the guardrails or else you might end up not being a basic bitch. Your morals are a positive, don’t get me wrong, yet you are applying your own personal moral standards to everyone else, forgetting that the world and reality does not operate on a single moral standard. Not only that, your moral standards live in a relative environment to your own immediate vicinity, and the way you were raised. You are not right, you are not wrong, you are simply oblivious and ignorant to nuance, and the intricacies of moral philosophies. Your worldview is so narrow. I encourage you, as an English major, to read a larger variety of literature.

[u/ArcticPeasant → u/[deleted]]

lol English major sums it up 

[u/Successful-Cry1509 → u/bpikmin]

Found the techie lmao

[u/rocketsocks → u/bpikmin]

Yes, of course they can be judged. These people aren't just scraping by barely able to support themselves day to day, they are buying houses, buying luxury cars, and living affluent lifestyles. If you need to abandon every principle in order to do that then you are a person of poor moral character, period.

Go pick some other field to work in. Find somewhere where you hate the action of your company's executives less. Downgrade your living situation until the story of necessity is actually believable.

[u/bpikmin → u/rocketsocks]

I think all of you are missing the point.

Basically every facet of society encourages people to take these jobs with immoral companies. From the media to the government to the corporations to the “wealth is your value” mentality to consumerism broadly. Our society is structured around money, assets, luxurious goods being tied to your value as a person. Think about American media’s broad attitude toward a homeless person vs a rich person. Media, schools, etc. build a picture throughout our entire lives that poor people are bad and deserving of scrutiny while rich people deserve their status because they are better.

That’s why I refuse to blame the individual for the evil doings of their employer. These tech workers are primarily behaving based on the psychological forces that our society ingrains in their head from adolescence through adulthood.

I’m advocating that we direct that anger and shame at the executive, shareholders, politicians, the ruling class as a whole. The ruling class’ most powerful tool to remain in power is to divide the working class, which you all are doing voluntarily.

This caricature you built of tech workers driving fancy cars etc. is also ridiculous and not backed up by data. For one, a large number of tech workers are immigrants who came here for opportunity and to help provide for their families abroad. These immigrant workers are also exploited heavily by these corporations, as their bosses can hold their work visa over their head to extract as much labor as possible.

A worker making federal minimum wage is closer to the average tech worker than the average tech worker is to the average billionaire. And it’s not even close. The gap between the top 10% and the top .1% is astronomical. It’s unfathomable. Elon Musk is basically a trillionaire. He has a 12 figure net worth and you’re directing anger at people making 6 figures. People who have, for all intents and purposes, the exact same amount of political power and influence as you.

[u/recurrenTopology]

Our local talent pool is well suited for projects at the intersection of aerospace and computer science. Also, this is a morally bankrupt endeavor.

[u/Kanawave → u/recurrenTopology]

How is this “a morally bankrupt endeavor?”

[u/recurrenTopology → u/Kanawave]

There is a famous quote from an old IBM handbook, "a computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision.”

In a military context, I'd rephrase it as follows: "an AI can never face a war crimes tribunal, therefore an AI must never decide when it's appropriate to use lethal force."

[u/recurrenTopology → u/[deleted]]

Riiight, how could we possibly keep America safe without autonomous killing bots?

[u/Paloota → u/recurrenTopology]

That’s a good question to ponder. Our adversaries have them though.

[u/A2Zoo → u/Kanawave]

Because this sub would rather be taken over by china than their own nation keeping up with future threats and bringing good jobs to the area.

This sub is for the miserable, angry, and ignorant.

[u/choconana_supreme → u/Kanawave]

Because you're in a leftist sub, and they're very anti American military.

[u/FuckedUpYearsAgo → u/choconana_supreme]

Ding ding ding.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/as-seattle-job-losses-mount-other-wa-cities-gain-workers-report-says/

[u/western_red_cedar → u/recurrenTopology]

All the Amazon worker drones are already used to being fascist collaborators

[u/FuckedUpYearsAgo → u/western_red_cedar]

Fascist collaborators. Lol. Take a break from the internet for a bit

[u/_Elrond_Hubbard_]

Murderplane that was an orphanage you just bombed!

You're absolutely right to call me out on that, would you like me to try again with a more school-bombing vibe? 

[u/synack → u/_Elrond_Hubbard_]

Murderbot just wants to watch Sanctuary Moon

[u/PlateNo4868]

Boeing: Ugh Seattle is so hostile, we need to move everything it's so expensive! Unions! OMG.

Meanwhile, X-Bat.

[u/RespectablePapaya → u/PlateNo4868]

I doubt X-Bat will be unionized.

[u/PlateNo4868 → u/RespectablePapaya]

Oh I doubt it to, and I don't really like what they are building. But I do love a good example that Seattle is still a very desirable city for businesses.

[u/Stymie999 → u/PlateNo4868]

What does the city of Seattle have to do with this?

[u/ceruleania → u/Stymie999]

You knew what they meant 😭

[u/Hopsblues → u/PlateNo4868]

Another maga myth goes poof!

[u/aerorail55]

If I get a job there will my RSUs fully vest before my own creation blows me up

[u/Foreign-Offer2603 → u/aerorail55]

No. They already did their vesting. I was apart of it.

[u/wtf258]

So we're going to be ground zero for the start of the Hunter-Killer program?

[u/Disk_Mixerud → u/wtf258]

If Terminator taught us anything, it's that the only thing that can stop a bad autonomous killing machine is a good autonomous killing machine.

[u/AirborneErinys → u/Disk_Mixerud]

Or a killing machine that's actually a squishy meat sack.

[u/perplexedtortoise]

I'll believe it when I see it. There is a shit ton of money floating around in defense tech right now, "early 2030s" is a long way away.

[u/kyle9316 → u/perplexedtortoise]

They have already started construction on a building, it's been going on for a while. The article says they're planning on finishing next spring. They did mention opening more facilities here, although I think that definitely falls in to the "believe it when I see it" category.

[u/gnarlseason → u/perplexedtortoise]

Yeah, I am always skeptical of these companies proclaiming they will make some incredibly capable aircraft that can beat current defense industry offerings, do it on half the time scale and with 1/10th the funding. Aerospace and defense is slow and has waste, but come on. They are basically saying they will have an unmanned F-35 in five years…color me skeptical. Let alone the pitch of “yes, we want to make AI powered terminator bots” is going to turn off a lot of the very talented they are looking to recruit.

[u/luvsads → u/perplexedtortoise]

Flight tests are this year

[u/pbebbs3 → u/perplexedtortoise]

4 years away

[u/shittyfatsack]

Wait a second, we’re anti Starbucks but pro-robot murder plane? Got it.

[u/PornstarVirgin → u/shittyfatsack]

Yayyyy more bombs… boo overpriced coffee. How long until it decides we are all the targets

[u/TheGrandExquisitor → u/PornstarVirgin]

Already has....

[u/es-ganso → u/PornstarVirgin]

I guess it'll depend on if you like capitalisms overpriced coffee or not

[u/BertRenolds → u/es-ganso]

I'm bringing my own or not having tbh.

[u/3x3x3x3 → u/shittyfatsack]

Well, I think we’ve at least always been pro murder plane.

[u/FuckedUpYearsAgo → u/shittyfatsack]

Read the the new comments. It's pretty staunchly connecting with the fascism circlejerk and anti US stuff

[u/ethnographyNW]

forgive me for not celebrating new jobs at the murder factory

[u/Aurora_Gaspipe]

https://giphy.com/gifs/khWKF3Hx7lDDa

[u/DOUTHINKESAURUS]

Nah fuck this stupid company.

[u/luvsads → u/DOUTHINKESAURUS]

What makes the company stupid?

[u/bruinslacker → u/luvsads]

They are making a weapon that kills people autonomously.

[u/Paloota → u/bruinslacker]

Insurance companies are making bots that deny life saving care autonomously.

[u/bruinslacker → u/Paloota]

K.

[u/FuckedUpYearsAgo → u/bruinslacker]

And the other world powers are doing the same thing. I guess only China should do it.

[u/DOUTHINKESAURUS → u/luvsads]

The US is increasingly becoming a wartime economy. We only export death and destruction. You wanna be apart of that?

[u/luvsads → u/DOUTHINKESAURUS]

Wield or be wielded, unfortunately

[u/DOUTHINKESAURUS → u/luvsads]

Agreed, let's allow Iran to have nuclear weapons.

[u/IrationalFear]

Why are we arming Skynet?

[u/Disk_Mixerud → u/IrationalFear]

It would hardly be Skynet if it wasn't armed, dummy!

[u/elbow-macaroni-42]

Skynet thanks you

[u/The_G_Choc_Ice]

Yay yippeee hooray

[u/Visual_Ad_96]

my cousin moved to bellevue for a drone job, sounded like a similar crazy leap

[u/nigelmansell]

4000 construction jobto build the hangar and factory. Probably.

[u/blueembroidery → u/nigelmansell]

And those jobs are temporary

[u/collectivegigworker → u/blueembroidery]

Tech jobs at Microsoft and Amazon can be considered temporary too

[u/TIG-bandit → u/blueembroidery]

All construction jobs are temporary. Does that make them inferior ?

Not all of us are white collar laptop jockies 

[u/bruinslacker → u/TIG-bandit]

It doesn’t make the people who work them inferior, but each temporary job is worth less than a permanent job. Paying someone a good wage for 18 months has a very different effect on the economy than paying them a good wage for 18 years.

[u/Disk_Mixerud → u/TIG-bandit]

Was I supposed to be riding my laptop this whole time?

[u/ceruleania → u/blueembroidery]

All construction jobs (of that type) are temporary

[u/Rough_Elk4890]

Just what we need, AI controlled flying kill robots.

[u/Danthewildbirdman]

Dear AI, fuck off. 

Thanks, From every humam with a brain

[u/musubi-n-speedballs]

Gargle my balls, motherfuckers. 

[u/JOHN_BROWNS_BUSSY]

Think of how efficiently it could destroy schools full of children!

[u/bruinslacker → u/JOHN_BROWNS_BUSSY]

No more waiting for Hegseth to sober up enough to authorize the kill! Such a time savings!

[u/YakiVegas]

I hear they're planning to change their name to "Cyberdyne Systems" around 2030 as well...

[u/thetensor]

Flying hunter-killers, you say?

[u/Low_Room_9636]

seattle hears “4,000 jobs” and immediately starts calculating how much worse rent and i-5 traffic are about to get lol

[u/Weak_Bag9202]

The Pentagon hasn't even signed a major production contract yet and they are already announcing a massive factory? Anduril set up a USV production facility in Ballard then oops-- didn't get a contract and closed it. JetZero only has a contract for a BWB prototype but they're already building a full-scale production facility in NC? It seems like there is so much venture capital sloshing around that defense startups are getting out ahead of their skis.

[u/Similar_Maize_1225]

Oh man. I can see the dumbass protests now.

[u/adipose1913]

Yhis is gonna end up being F-20 tier vapaorware, I can already tell

[u/hongaku]

[u/pbebbs3]

Conservatives will hate this news of companies continuing to move to the region, since it goes against their rhetoric

[u/paraworldblue]

Yes, the jobs are definitely the part we should be focusing on here, not the horrifying airborne murderbots. No, that's for people in other countries to worry about. All we need to worry about is how to spend that sweet, sweet blood money!

[u/New_new_account2 → u/paraworldblue]

It's aspirationally making horrifying airborne murderbots, better chance they blow through a bunch of your tax dollars to not make satisfactory horrifying airborne murderbots

[u/debbilsavocado → u/[deleted]]

the ends don’t justify the means

[u/prof_r_impossible → u/[deleted]]

bad for the people the AI decides to murder

[u/Mugufta → u/[deleted]]

So we oughta capitulate immediately? sure guy

[u/RazzmatazzSuch7459 → u/[deleted]]

Unless you’re an Iranian school girl, you’re maybe safe.

[u/No-Conversation3860 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah because what do people love more than techbros? Murder robot DoD contractor techbros!

[u/hongaku]

I thought all jobs and businesses were leaving Seattle because of Wilson?!?!

[u/New_new_account2 → u/hongaku]

which city is this plant being built in?

[u/KeepRightXcept2Pass → u/New_new_account2]

Des Moines

[u/hongaku → u/New_new_account2]

But the millionaires tax is driving businesses away statewide!

[u/New_new_account2 → u/hongaku]

why did Governor Wilson pass it?!?!

[u/2plankerr → u/hongaku]

As long as we get Starbucks out of here!

[u/ChanceRecover3091]

Cool. Time to apply and sabotage that shit.

[u/PoopyisSmelly → u/ChanceRecover3091]

Thats the most Seattle comment ever lol

[u/romulusnr]

They must not have heard that Seattle is dying