This week, we take the GeekWire Podcast to Front Burner Studios in Seattle, where we’re hosted by studio co-owner Seth Paul, who’s co-founder and CEO of security startup Qinsay.

We discuss the White House crackdown on Microsoft’s green-card sponsorships, which Vice President JD Vance announced just hours before President Trump awarded Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. We talk about the contrast, and about how Nadella himself traveled that same path from H-1B visa to U.S. citizenship.

We also look at how Seattle-area startups raised a record $3.5 billion, driven largely by companies building physical things like rockets and satellites.

That leads us to Shield AI’s plans to build AI-piloted fighter jets in Des Moines, Wash., where a city FAQ assures residents the facility is not a data center.

After we catch up on the news, Seth joins us to tells us about the studio, including the vintage console he drove from Detroit, and how he brings a musician’s approach to the startup world.

And in the final segment, it’s the return of the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.

Related links:

• Microsoft responds to White House immigration crackdown as Trump honors Nadella
• From H-1B to CEO: How Satya Nadella traveled the path the U.S. just cut off for Microsoft workers
• Seattle-area startups raise a record $3.5B as national VC funding cools
• Shield AI selects Seattle area to build X-BAT autonomous fighter jet
• Shield AI lands $150M Navy contract for AI-piloted fighter jet

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Traditional military air operations rely heavily on fixed, vulnerable targets: long concrete runways and aircraft carriers.

Shield AI’s new X-BAT autonomous fighter jet is designed to bypass that infrastructure entirely, utilizing a vertical takeoff mechanism and a mobile launch trailer that can operate from highways, remote outposts or standard cargo ships.

Operated without a human in the cockpit, the aircraft relies on aboard algorithms to navigate and execute strike missions where GPS and satellite communications are jammed. The X-BAT has yet to make its maiden flight, but Shield AI and GE Aerospace cleared a critical milestone this summer by completing ground engine tests and integrating the jet’s F110 thrust-vectoring nozzle.

With news that the X-BAT will be mass produced in the Seattle area — bringing 4,000 jobs to the region by the early 2030s — we decided to take a closer look at this groundbreaking aircraft.

Meet the X-BAT: Specifications & Capabilities

• Aircraft Name: X-BAT
• Developer: Shield AI
• Aircraft Classification: Autonomous / AI-Piloted Strike Fighter (Runway-Independent)
• Fuselage Length: 26 feet
• Wingspan: 39 feet
• Service Ceiling: Greater than 50,000 feet
• Takeoff/Landing Style: Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL)
• Objective Combat Radius: About 1,000 nautical mile combat radius (out and back), topping the roughly 590 nautical miles of the Air Force’s F-35A.
• Total Range: 2,000 nautical miles.
• Internal Payload Bay Capacity: Up to 2,000-pound class weapons.
• Engine: GE Aerospace F110
• Software: Shield AI Hivemind autonomy system.
• Primary Propulsion & Flight Control: Autonomous AI agent, replacing human onboard pilot.
• Logistics & Mobility: Road-transportable via dedicated Launch and Recovery Vehicle (LRV) trailer; highway-mobile and ship-deployable (destroyers, LHA/LHD amphibious assault ships, expeditionary bases). Tagline: “Earth is our runway.”
• Target Production Rate: ~150 aircraft per year by early 2030s
• Key Operational Milestones: First vertical flights expected in 2026. Production is set to start in Des Moines in mid-2027. The first jet is projected to be built in early 2028 and fly by that summer. The Navy could start using it by the end of 2029. Full production is planned for the early 2030s.