US Navy Signs $99.7M Deal with Domino Data Lab for AI-Powered Underwater Mine Detection

Summary

The U.S. Navy has signed a $99.7 million contract with Domino Data Lab, a San Francisco-based AI startup, to develop technology that accelerates the training of undersea drones for mine detection. The system leverages multiple sensor suites—including side-scan sonar and visual imaging—to enable unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to identify and adapt to new and previously unseen mine types in days rather than months. Rather than requiring drone data to be sent back for laboratory analysis and model retraining, the platform allows real-time operator monitoring and in-field corrections, dramatically reducing deployment timelines.

The deal specifically addresses mine-hunting operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping chokepoint that Iran has mined in response to escalating U.S.-Iran tensions. According to Domino CEO Thomas Robinson, the technology could enable rapid redeployment: a UUV trained on Russian mines in the Baltic could be retrained for Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz within a week—a process that previously took a year. This accelerated response is critical in contested, high-risk environments where mine-clearing operations pose significant danger to personnel.

The contract reflects the Pentagon's broader strategic pivot toward AI integration across military operations. The Department of Defense has simultaneously signed agreements with seven major technology firms—SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services—to deploy large language models across classified networks for data analysis and decision-making acceleration. DARPA is also soliciting proposals for next-generation deep-sea underwater drones.

• Part of Pentagon's accelerated AI integration strategy, with parallel agreements involving OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and AWS for military applications