FAA grounds US flights days after SMART AI tool went nationwide

The FAA halted all departing flights across the United States on Friday, three days after rolling its SMART artificial-intelligence tool out to every one of the agency's 22 regional air traffic control centers. It was the first full nationwide ground stop since January 2023.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed 'a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,' according to Futurism. He did not mention SMART.

A reporter pressed the question anyway. Homeland Security administrator Markwayne Mullin, on camera: 'We're looking at that. We're working with our counterparts throughout all agencies.'

The vendor got out ahead of the investigation. Air Space Intelligence, the startup that beat Palantir and Thales for a 12-year, $875 million FAA contract in June, said Friday evening the stoppage 'is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC.'

SMART, which stands for Strategic Management of Airspace Routes and Trajectories, had previously been running only in Washington, DC. The FAA describes it as a shift from reactive to predictive air traffic management, meant to 'reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption and improve the travel experience for the flying public.'

Neither the FAA nor Duffy has publicly linked the system to Friday's stop. Neither has publicly cleared it either.