China launched the world’s first AI-operated ‘mother ship,’ an unmanned carrier capable of launching dozens of drones

It describes the vessel as “epoch making” and the “world’s first intelligent unmanned system mother ship.”

“The most immediate benefit to China is likely data collection,” Matthew Funaiole, senior fellow of China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider.

“From a purely science standpoint, which is the angle China is promoting, we could see Chinese drones (both surface and subsurface, and launched from the Zhu Hai Yun) contributing to disaster mitigation, environmental monitoring, etc.”

However, the drone mothership could also be used by China’s military to gather intelligence in the contested South China Sea, which several countries have made competing territorial claims over.

In recent years, China has made increasingly assertive claims of sovereignty over the sea, and has been building up its military presence.

“When dealing with China, we rarely have perfect insight into their intentions, but as we have seen with its activities in the South China Sea, scientific ventures can be a precursor or otherwise support military objectives,” Funaiole said.

“Technology, especially information collection systems, often have dual use applications. Data collected by China from autonomous systems could aid with surveillance, domain awareness, help PLA [People’s Liberation Army] submarines navigate, enhance China’s ASW [anti-submarine warfare] capabilities, etc.”