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FAA launched new AI air traffic tool three days before national ground stop
Mashable • • business
Key Points:
- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a nationwide ground stop of all flights for only the third time in U.S. history, affecting over 2,000 flights and halting flights into the U.S.
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the stoppage to a "telecommunications outage," dismissing it as a national security threat.
- The ground stop coincided with the recent rollout of the FAA's new $875 million AI tool, the Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories (SMART) system, which uses AI to manage national airspace and predict traffic flows.
- Air Space Intelligence (ASI), the company behind SMART, denied any connection between their system and the ground stop, and officials have not confirmed any link between SMART and the outage.
- Mullin stated that investigations are ongoing and that all possibilities are being considered to prevent future incidents.
