ASI raises $325M at a $3B valuation for AI that runs air traffic and power grids

ASI, the company formerly called Air Space Intelligence, announced on 20 October 2026 a $325 million Series C round at a $3 billion valuation. Spark Capital led it. Affiliates of Citadel Securities, Craft Ventures, Meritech Capital, Energy Impact Partners and Andreessen Horowitz also took part.

“While the broader tech ecosystem spent hundreds of billions teaching AI to manipulate words and generate text, ASI is deeply focused on AI systems that can manage and control physical assets”

Phillip Buckendorf, founder and CEO of ASI, in the funding announcement · siliconangle.com ↗

ASI builds frontier models that simulate physical reality so operators can plan in real time. Its software forecasts disruptions hours, days or even weeks out across air traffic, power grids and military operations. Customers include the FAA, United, Delta, the US Army, the US Air Force and National Grid USA.

Government work drives the story. In June, ASI won a 12-year, $875 million FAA contract, which Bloomberg reported it took ahead of Palantir and Thales; the system went live at Dulles last month and is meant to reach every major US airport. This month came a five-year, $99 million Army command-and-control deal. SiliconANGLE notes that makes ASI one of only four technology firms to land a federal contract of that size since 2000.

CEO Phillip Buckendorf argues that systems managing physical assets matter more than text generators, because critical infrastructure leaves no margin for error. The new capital is earmarked for expansion in aviation, defense and energy, for new logistics work, and for larger research and engineering teams. Buckendorf describes the capital as what lets ASI scale into an automated nervous system for the country. The round arrives four months after the FAA award and only weeks after the Army deal. Both SiliconANGLE and Ascendants report that the software is also used to plan for energy networks and other critical systems, and that the company's research and engineering staff in Boston will grow with the new funds.