Underwater autonomous vessels and robots hold significant promise for defense and maritime operations, but effective communication across long distances has long been a major hurdle—especially without surfacing, which risks exposure. Skana Robotics, a Tel Aviv-based startup founded in 2024, says it has overcome this challenge with a breakthrough in underwater communication powered by a specialized form of artificial intelligence. The company’s flagship software, SeaSphere, enables fleets of underwater robots to exchange data and coordinate actions over extended distances while remaining submerged. This capability allows individual units to autonomously adjust their behavior—such as changing course or reassigning tasks—based on real-time information from other robots, all while advancing the collective mission of the fleet. “Communication between vessels is one of the main challenges during the deployment of multi-domain, multi-vessel operations,” said Idan Levy, Skana Robotics’ co-founder and CEO. “The problem we tackle is how you can deploy hundreds of unmanned vessels in an operation, share data, communicate on the surface level and under the water.” The innovation stems from research led by Teddy Lazebnik, an AI scientist and professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. Unlike the large language models dominating today’s AI landscape, Lazebnik and his team developed decision-making algorithms rooted in older, mathematically rigorous AI frameworks. These models prioritize predictability, explainability, and robustness over flashy performance. “The new algorithms have two properties: they are more powerful, but as a result, are less predictable,” Lazebnik explained. “Hypothetically, you’re paying in the performance or the ‘wow effect’ of this algorithm, but the older ones, you gain explainability, predictability and actually generality.” Skana Robotics recently exited stealth mode and is now targeting government and enterprise clients in Europe, where rising maritime tensions due to the war between Russia and Ukraine have heightened interest in underwater surveillance and defense technologies. The company is currently in advanced discussions for a major government contract and aims to close it by the end of the year. Looking ahead, Skana plans to launch a commercial version of its software in 2026, followed by real-world testing to demonstrate its capabilities at scale. “We want to show we can use this in scale,” Lazebnik said. “We argue that our software can handle complex maneuvers, etc. We want to show it. We claim we know how to manage an operation. We want admirals from EU and in EU countries to actually check this argument and see by themselves that we actually get results.”