The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) hosted the quarterly integration meeting for DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program to advance AI dogfighting capabilities at its hangar in Iowa City, Iowa.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is leading a multi-year effort to develop trusted artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that fighter pilots can rely on for air combat engagements.

OPL is directed by Tom "Mach" Schnell, a professor of industrial and systems engineering and associate director of the Iowa Technology Institute. Schnell and the OPL team have provided the ACE team important early-stage "trust data" to assess pilots' level of trust in the AI.

The two-day meeting included presentations from teams at DARPA, Soar Tech, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, PhysicsAI, EpiSci, Heron Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Dynetics, among others.