🤖 Seattle's "Autonomous Alley"

Three Companies Building Warships on Seattle Ship Canal

The quiet calm of Lake Washington Ship Canal is transforming into a bustling hub feeding the U.S. Navy’s increasing hunger for autonomous vessels, especially in light of the war in Iran. GeekWire has dubbed the ship canal a mini “autonomous alley” for the three companies building drone warships along the water. [GeekWire]

• Navy quickly procuring drone vessels: On March 26, the U.S. Navy introduced a new rapid procurement program. The plan is to more quickly test prototypes on the open water later this year, and then deploy the vessels by September 30, 2027. This is much faster than the defense industry normally moves. As a result, companies have flocked to fill the demand.
• A perfect storm: Seattle is home to ‘advanced manufacturing capabilities, prime marine acreage, a high-tech workforce with specialization in autonomous systems and relative proximity to key suppliers in Asia,’ making it prime real estate for this industry. As a result, our city is home to three companies doing just that. This includes Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries. Luckey is the 33-year-old creator of Oculus VR, and the New York Times recently described him as the “It Guy” of AI warfare. Luckey is a close confidante and respected force in the Trump administration.
• “Autonomous Alley”: Last fall, Anduril (another military contractor in Seattle named for The Lord of the Rings) spent tens of millions of dollars to retrofit the shipyard on the southern side of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. In addition to the Navy, Anduril is partnering with Boeing on a new missile defense system. Nearby in a former fish cannery at West Canal Yards, Brinc — a drone manufacturer — is opening a 35,000 square foot facility. And on the north side of the canal in Fremont, Snow & Company is building electric boats and components, with contracts with the U.S. Navy.

🔎 Group still won’t allow inspectors inside NWDC: A federal appeals court ruling last summer should have allowed Washington state health inspectors inside the Tacoma immigrant detention center, but the company running the center blocked entry last month for the ninth time since 2023. The Department of Health has received more than 3,500 complaints about the detention center. For a full breakdown of recent Washington immigration arrests, click here. [South Seattle Emerald]

🍷 Food & Wine ranks Seattle 5th for coffee and bars: Despite our reputation as a coffee city, Seattle was ranked below Austin, NYC, LA, and Chicago for our coffee. Coffee shops Kuma Coffee, Olympia Coffee, Push X Pull, Sound & Fog, and Ghost Note Coffee all got special mentions, along with the Bakke Coffee Museum. My neighborhood favorite Bar Miriam was also named the 5th best bar in the country, with a special shout-out for their low- and no-ABV cocktails. [Food & Wine]

👮🏻‍♂️ Police add officers to Magnuson Park: In a Seattle Police Department press event that took place about 700 feet from where officers shot and killed Charleen Lyles, a pregnant mother of three, in 2017, SPD Chief Shon Barnes announced that SPD will assign three full-time officers to the park. The decision follows a pilot that SPD said created a “double-digit” reduction in crime. PubliCola reports Seattle crime rates continue to shrink year over year, meaning those numbers could be due to a more general reduction in crime rather than the success of a specific pilot. [PubliCola]