A top US shipbuilder is exploring how AI and robots can do some of the hardest jobs on the production floor

• Top US Navy shipbuilder HII is exploring what AI and robots can do for shipbuilding.
• The next year will see HII and GrayMatter Robotics test the integration of systems into shipyards.
• Automation in shipbuilding processes is an industry priority to boost production and timelines.

America's biggest shipbuilder wants to know whether artificial intelligence and robots can do some of the most labor-intensive parts of the shipbuilding process.

A new partnership between Huntington Ingalls Industries and GrayMatter Robotics, announced Monday, aims to work AI and physical robotic systems into shipbuilding operations. Autonomous robotic systems could help speed up building and help workers prepare materials for construction.

"Together we will integrate physical AI into manned and unmanned shipbuilding and further accelerate the industrial revitalization already underway," Eric Chewning, HII's executive vice president of maritime systems and corporate strategy, told reporters.

HII and GrayMatter Robotics will look into four areas: developing autonomous shipbuilding capability, integrating GrayMatter Robotics' technologies, workforce training, and growing uncrewed system production.

HII has already been exploring the use of AI, automation, and digital engineering in its shipyards.

"We have taken these traditional automation technologies as far as they can go in the complex production of Navy ships," Chewning said, adding that shipyard automation is customized for the size and scale of Navy vessels but "remains limited to largely repeatable shipbuilding activities."

Physical AI, which is artificial intelligence in machines that interact with the physical world rather than software applications, can improve robotic functions, giving these systems the ability to carry out more than one task.

The new partnership agreement will explore how GrayMatter Robotics' Factory Superintelligence AI can do things like sanding, grinding, coating, blasting, inspecting, and finishing metal structures for use in building crewed and uncrewed vessels.

With the robots, the shipbuilding process is expected to speed up and grow in scale. "These are physically brutal tasks that require incredible precision, and we don't have enough skilled people anymore in the US who are capable of doing these jobs," Ariyan Kabir, GrayMatter Robotics CEO and co-founder, said.

In the coming year, which Kabir described as "the year of demonstrations," HII and GrayMatter Robotics will pilot the tech, test how the systems work in the shipbuilding environment, and look to scaling for production afterward.

GrayMatter Robotics, based in California, is a six-year-old company that's worked across different defense, aerospace, and manufacturing industries, as well as with the Navy. But this agreement "will be our first time working with Huntington Ingalls Industries to bring autonomous robots for shipbuilding in a shipyard," Kabir said.

The push for automation in shipbuilding is part of a larger industry shift towards boosting production, bridging the gaps between a much smaller skilled workforce and growing demand for ships, and the prospect of making some of the most time-consuming and grueling tasks of shipbuilding easier.

Beyond looking to AI technologies and automation, HII is also pursuing other strategies to increase its output, including growing its supply chain, partnering with over 20 smaller shipyards and manufacturing centers, and increasing wages to hire workers from a network of vocational and apprenticeship schools.