AI-controlled cockroaches that carry cutting-edge technology sound like something that’s been ripped straight out of Call of Duty or Dune, but no, they are real, and they are being deployed.
According to German tech startup Swarm Biotactics, the “bio-robotic swarms” can provide mobile reconnaissance and enter locations no man or drone can reach.
The company describes its technology as a new category of robotics, where AI is integrated into insects to create the ultimate stealth tool.
In a LinkedIn post shared on February 26, Swarm said the project has already progressed from research to operational deployment.
AI-controlled bugs enter the field
“One year ago, this didn’t exist. Today, we deploy programmable cyborg insect swarms, field-tested and operational with paying NATO customers,” reads the post.
“What you’re seeing is real. Living organisms, controlled through bioelectronic neural interfaces, carrying sensors, edge AI, and secure comms. Moving as a coordinated unit. Scaling through breeding, not factories.”
The video shows a cockroach fitted with a miniature backpack, which the tech start-up claims “allows for sensing, and secure communication,” enabling users to control and collect data in real time from areas that would be hostile or hard to reach.
According to the LinkedIn post, Swarm has more than 40 engineers and scientists across Germany and the US. It also says the German military is one of its “paying customers” and has received field validation in both European and US operating environments.
“No other company in the Western world is building this. We’re not building a better drone. We’re building a different scaling law for physical intelligence – one where capability compounds through biology, not engineering complexity,” reads the statement.
GTA 6 leaks are “locked up” and Rockstar is reportedly spreading fake ones