Larus Technologies lands $800K federal funding for AI military scenario platform

Larus Technologies, an Ottawa-based defence firm, has received up to $800,000 in funding from the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) for a $1.7-million project to develop ScenarioGPT, an AI platform that converts natural language into executable military scenarios for command and control, simulation, and training.

The platform reduces scenario development time from weeks to minutes, according to the company. Larus CEO George DiNardo said in a statement: "This project advances ScenarioGPT's readiness for integration while enhancing its core capabilities. ScenarioGPT gives defence organizations a faster way to develop realistic scenarios while supporting the modernization priorities of the Canadian Armed Forces and our NATO partners."

Larus noted that ScenarioGPT also has "broad dual-use applications for civilian markets," including logistics, supply chain, route planning, emergency management, and procurement.

This funding builds on an $8.3-million contract Larus received from the Department of National Defence earlier this year to develop AI and machine-learning tools for analyzing complex data sets to help military leaders "act faster and more precisely" when planning tactical operations.

Also in the region, Kanata-based Calian Group has been awarded a five-year NATO contract worth approximately $47 million to continue providing scenario development support to NATO's Joint Warfare Centre in Norway, designing and maintaining complex training scenarios for strategic and operational-level exercises.