Technology

Analysis of open source information carried out by the investigative websiteBellingcatsuggests drones that had been repurposed as flying bombs were indeed used in an attack on the president of Venezuela at the weekend.

The Venezuelan government claimed three days ago that an attempt had been made to assassination president Maduro using two drones loaded with explosives. The president had been giving a speech at the time which was being broadcast live on television when the incident occurred.

Initial video from a state-owned television network showed the reaction of Maduro, those around him and a parade of soldiers at the event to what appeared to be two blasts somewhere off camera. But the footage did not include shots of any drones or explosions.

News organization AP also reported that firefighters at scene had shed doubt on the drone attack claim — suggesting there had instead been a gas explosion in a nearby flat.

Since then more footage has emerged, including videos purporting to show a drone exploding and a drone tumbling alongside a building.

Bellingcat has carried out an analysis of publicly available information related to the attack, including syncing timings of the state broadcast of Madurospeech, and using frame-by-frame analysis combined with photos and satellite imagery of Caracus to try to pinpoint locations of additional footage that has emerged to determine whether the drone attack claim stands up.

The Venezuelan government has claimedthe drones used were DJI Matrice 600s, each carrying approximately 1kg of C4 plastic explosive and, when detonated, capable of causing damage at a radius of around 50 meters.

DJI Matrice 600 drones are a commercial model, normally used for industrial work — with a U.S. price tag of around $5,000 apiece, suggesting the attack could have cost little over $10k to carry out — with 1kg of plastic explosive available commercially (for demolition purposes) at a cost of around $30.

Bellingcat says its analysis supports the governmentclaim that the drone model used was a DJI Matrice 600, noting that the drones involved in the event each had six rotors. It also points to a photo of drone wreckage which appears to show the distinctive silver rotor tip of the model, although it also notesthe drones appear to have had their legs removed.

Venezuelainterior minister, Nestor Reverol, also claimed the government thwarted the attack using &special techniques and [radio] signal inhibitors&, which &disoriented& the drone that detonated closest to the presidential stand — a capability Bellingcat notes the Venezuelan security services arereportedto have.

The second drone was said by Reverol to have &lost control& and crashed into a nearby building.

Bellingcat says it is possible to geolocate the video of the falling drone to the same location as the fire in the apartment that firefighters had claimed was caused by a gas canister explosion. It adds that images taken of this location during the fire show a hole in the wall of the apartment in the vicinity of where the drone would have crashed.

&It is a very likely possibility that the downed drone subsequently detonated, creating the hole in the wall of this apartment, igniting a fire, and causing the sound of the second explosion which can be heard in Video 2 [of the state TV broadcast of Madurospeech],& it further suggests.

Hereits conclusion:

From the open sources of information available, it appears that an attack took place using two DBIEDs while Maduro was giving a speech. Both the drones appear visually similar to DJI Matrice 600s, with at least one displaying features that are consistent with this model. These drones appear to have been loaded with explosive and flown towards the parade.

The first drone detonated somewhere above or near the parade, the most likely cause of thecasualtiesannounced by the Venezuelan government andpicturedon social media. The second drone crashed and exploded approximately 14 seconds later and 400 meters away from the stage, and is the most likely cause of the fire which the Venezuelan firefightersdescribed.

It also considers the claim of attribution by a group on social media, calling itself &Soldados de Franelas& (aka ‘T-Shirt Soldiers& — a reference to a technique used by protestors wrapping a t-shirt around their head to cover their face and protect their identity), suggesting itnot clear from the groupTwitter messages that they are &unequivocally claiming responsibility for the event&, owing to use of passive language, and to a claim that the drones were shot down by government snipers — which it says &does not appear to be supported by the open source information available&.

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SenseTime may be best known as the worldhighest-valued AI company — having raised $620 million at a valuation of over $4.5 billion — but it is also an investor, too. The Chinese firm this week leda 1.36 billion RMB ($199 million) Series D funding round for Moviebook, a Beijing-based startup that develops technology to support online video services.

Moviebook previously raised a 500 million RMB Series C in 2017, worth around $75 million.SB China Venture Capital (SBCVC) also took part in this new round alongsideQianhai Wutong, PAC Partners, Oriental Pearl, and Lang Sheng Investment.

With the investment, SenseTime said it also inked a partnership with Moviebook which will see the two companies collaborate on a range of AI technologies, includingaugmented reality, with a view to increasing the use of AI in the entertainment industry.

The object detection and tracking technology developed by SenseTime Group Ltd. is displayed on a screen at the Artificial Intelligence Exhibition - Conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, April 4, 2018. The AI Expo will run through April 6. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

In a statement in Chinese, SenseTime co-founder Xu Bing said the companies plan to use the vast amounts of video data from broadcasting, TV and internet streams to help unlock commercial opportunities in the future. He also stressed the potential to bring AI and new technologies to the entertainment industry.

This isn&t SenseTimefirst strategic investment, but it is likely to be its most significant to date. The company has previously backed startups that include51VR,Helian Health andSuning Sports, the spinout from retail giant Suning.

SenseTime itself has raised over $1.6 billion from investors, which include Alibaba, Tiger Global, Qualcomm, IDG Capital, Temasek and Silver Lake Partners.