HII and GrayMatter Robotics to advance shipbuilding with Physical AI. What: HII (NYSE: HII), America's largest shipbuilder, and GrayMatter Robotics, a leader in physical AI for manufacturing, will host a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony and physical AI demonstration at GrayMatter's headquarters Monday, April 6. Media will be able to film Live Technology Demonstrations and cover the signing ceremony, plus ask questions of the two industry leaders below. The event is NOT open to the public, but media are invited to cover it. Who: Following the ceremony remarks, formal MOU signing and physical AI demonstrations, media will have an opportunity to speak with Eric Chewning, HII executive vice president of maritime systems & corporate strategy, and Ariyan Kabir, GrayMatter Robotics CEO and co-founder. When: Monday, April 6, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Additional Directions: Parking is available at GrayMatter's headquarters. Please plan to park at signs marked media. Event signage will be posted on-site to guide you to the appropriate parking area. RSVP: Confirmation of media attendance is required. Please RSVP by noon on Friday, April 3, to Mike Goldstein, [email protected] or Danny Hernandez, [email protected] 202-264-7143. Safety and Attire: As this event will take place in an active manufacturing environment, closed-toed shoes are required. HII is America's largest shipbuilder, delivering the world's most powerful ships and all-domain mission technologies, including unmanned systems, to U.S. and allied defense customers. HII is the largest producer of unmanned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy and the world. With a more than 140-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII builds and integrates defense capabilities extending from the core fleet to C6ISR, AI/ML, EW and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII's workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit: About GrayMatter Headquartered in Carson, California, GrayMatter Robotics is building Factory SuperIntelligence that powers the autonomous factories of the future. Founded in 2020, the company develops Physical AI technologies and deploys autonomous factories that handle complex, high-mix tool-manipulation applications such as surface preparation, coating, and inspection processes across some of the most demanding production environments in the world - delivering up to 12x the throughput of skilled manual labor and a 95% reduction in rework. Its air-gapped, edge-deployed architecture ensures full data sovereignty for defense and enterprise-critical operations. To date, GrayMatter Robotics has processed over 30 million square feet of surface area across 20+ industries, serving customers in aerospace, defense, shipbuilding, specialty vehicles, and consumer products. The company is on a mission to reindustrialize American manufacturing and bolster our National Security, bridge the gap between demand and capacity of our industrial base, and ensure the industrial resilience the nation depends on. For more information, visit: https://graymatter-robotics.com/

GrayMatter Robotics awarded AFWERX Phase II contract to develop ai-powered robotic system for Canopy Sanding. News provided by. Advanced Smart Robotic Canopy Sanding System Will Transform Maintenance Operations, Extend Service Life, and Enhance Mission Readiness for Aircraft CARSON, Calif., Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - GrayMatter Robotics, a leader in AI-powered robotic surface finishing solutions, today announced it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract by AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, to develop an autonomous robotic system for the precision sanding of canopies. The Phase II contract builds upon GrayMatter's proven expertise in physics-informed AI and adaptive robotic systems, extending the company's breakthrough surface finishing technology to address one of aviation maintenance's most challenging and critical tasks. The Smart Robotic Canopy Sanding System will target maintenance and repair operations for acrylic and polycarbonate parts that accumulate scratches and surface damage on interior and exterior surfaces throughout their service life. "Manual canopy repair is one of the most demanding precision tasks in aircraft maintenance, requiring exceptional skill and consuming valuable technician hours that could be deployed elsewhere," said Ariyan Kabir, CEO and co-founder of GrayMatter Robotics. "Our system will deliver the consistency and precision needed to restore optical clarity while dramatically reducing maintenance time and eliminating the variability that leads to rework." The system leverages GrayMatter's proprietary GMR-AI(TM) platform, integrating advanced 3D sensing, force-adaptive control, and autonomous trajectory generation and adaptation to identify and systematically remove surface defects while preserving the canopy's optical properties and structural integrity. The robotic solution adapts in real time to handle the complex geometries and varying defect patterns encountered across different aircraft platforms. "This contract represents a natural evolution of our physical AI technology into aerospace maintenance applications," said Dr. Satyandra K. Gupta, chief scientist and co-founder of GrayMatter Robotics. "The same adaptive intelligence that enables our systems to handle thousands of unique parts in manufacturing environments will now support the exacting requirements of optical surface restoration. We're essentially teaching robots to replicate and surpass the expertise of the skilled maintenance technicians." Key technical innovations of the Smart Robotic Canopy Sanding System include: * Autonomous Damage Detection: Advanced vision systems that identify and classify scratches, hazing, and other surface defects * Adaptive Process Control: Real-time adjustment of sanding parameters based on material thickness, scratch depth, and optical requirements * Quality Assurance Integration: In-process monitoring and documentation to ensure consistent repair quality and traceability The system is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing depot- and field-level maintenance workflows, providing a scalable, data-driven approach to canopy repair that helps extend service life and improve aircraft availability across the Air Force fleet. This latest AFWERX contract adds to GrayMatter Robotics' growing portfolio of defense and aerospace applications, following the company's selection as a winner in the U.S. Navy's Advanced Manufacturing Innovation for Maritime Readiness Challenge in August 2025. The Phase II effort will include extensive testing and validation in collaboration with Air Force maintenance facilities, with initial prototype demonstrations planned for later this year. GrayMatter Robotics expects the technology developed under this contract to have broad applications across military and commercial aviation maintenance operations. About GrayMatter Robotics GrayMatter Robotics, headquartered in Carson, California, designs advanced, physics-informed, AI-driven robotic cells that empower high-mix manufacturers to tackle complex, ergonomically challenging surface finishing tasks, such as sanding, grinding, buffing, polishing, blasting, and spraying. Featuring proprietary technologies like GMR-AI(TM), GMR-Guardian(TM), GMR-Care(TM), GMR-Insights(TM), and GMR-ProcessPro(TM), GrayMatter Robotics enhances productivity, safety, and sustainability through streamlined, turnkey automation accessible to manufacturers of all sizes. Founded in 2020, the company serves diverse manufacturing sectors, including aerospace and defense, marine and boat building, specialty vehicles, general manufacturing, and recreation and consumer products. Named one of Fast Company's most innovative companies in robotics and engineering for 2025, GrayMatter Robotics is accelerating the transformation of American manufacturing. For more information, visit www.graymatter-robotics.com. About AFWERX As the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 325 military, civilian, and contractor personnel at five hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed 4,697 contracts worth more than $2.6 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit afwerx.com. Media Contact: Christina Ko GrayMatter Robotics [email protected] (310) 283-2335

GrayMatter opens California innovation center. Warehouse robot maker GrayMatter Robotics has opened a 100,000-square-foot headquarters and innovation center in Carson, California, saying the site establishes the nation's most advanced interactive robotics experience center for AI-powered manufacturing automation. The expansion follows GrayMatter's $85 million venture funding round, which the firm says supports growing demand for its "physical AI" - powered factories of the future. The company also raised $45 in backing through a 2024 round. "This facility represents more than just a headquarters - it is our commitment to bringing advanced manufacturing back to American soil and to the South Bay region specifically," Ariyan Kabir, CEO and co-founder of GrayMatter Robotics, said in a release. "We chose Carson for its proximity to aerospace, marine, and other manufacturing clusters, access to world-class port infrastructure, and most importantly, its skilled workforce. This is where the factories of the future are being built." The new site features more than 25 robotic cells actively performing real manufacturing operations on current and prospective customer and partner parts. And the facility itself creates over 100 high-skilled jobs in advanced AI, robotics, multidisciplinary engineering, manufacturing operations, and technical support, with plans to add hundreds more positions over the next few years. "We wanted to demystify industrial robotics," said GrayMatter's Brual Shah, CTO and co-founder. "Visitors can literally watch a robot scan a part it's never seen before, autonomously program itself in under a minute, and begin processing that part with precision that exceeds human capability. It's manufacturing intelligence in action."