SMART developed by ASI and the FAA is pushing to own a portion of the company:

"The FAA in June awarded Boston-based startup Air Space Intelligence a contract — worth up to $875.9 million — for an AI-powered tool to help air traffic controllers manage the nation’s skies and a related system for an FAA nerve center in northern Virginia to better handle plane congestion. The AI platform’s initial launch in the Washington area has sparked concern among Democrats in Congress who say it should be put on pause until they have a better understanding of how it’s being deployed."

"Over two dozen lawmakers have called on the FAA to pause its 90-day evaluation period for the platform, which began late last month in the Washington region. They say there’s been an “egregious lack of transparency.”"

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/15/faa-stake-ai-compan...

Feels like somebody was pushing their preferred company for a government contract and now is push for the government to invest.

AI tech is nowhere near reliable enough to be introduced in such important systems. I find this deeply troubling even if it’s not related to the current issue.

From the very first line of that article:

> The FAA has reassured the public and airlines that SMART only suggests routes and doesn't affect air safety.

The AI prompt misunderstood 'grounding'.

However, the National Air Traffic Controllers Union (NATCA) said it has not been “involved in the design, testing, or implementation of SMART and therefore cannot speak to its effect on the air traffic control workforce.”

“NATCA believes any new technology should complement and not replace the experience, training, and professional judgment of air traffic controllers who are responsible for the safety of the National Airspace System,” the union said in a statement.

That system just makes suggestions and isn't actually integrated in any ATC system. This is a telecom issue.

Its more than likely that system is just created by some Trump donor and was purchased by the FAA to launder public funds to some company that Trump owes a favor too. Its not actually integrated with anything.

They didn't check https://shouldideploy.today before the rollout (edit: as UTC rolls past midnight, https://shouldideploy.today/?tz=Pacific%2FHonolulu to get a longer duration for today's message)

Have they estimated how long it will take before it saves more than it costs?

> Botched rollout of AI for ATC announced yesterday as rolling out nationwide?

Botched rollout of AI for ATC ...

or

Rollout of botched AI for ATC.

It sure didn't that long after every dev on earth started using LLMs for everything to turn to shit, so one may wonder...

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