Students Hold Town Hall on Anno AI, Spear AI
Dozens attended a Duluth town hall where student activists voiced opposition to Lake Superior AI testing projects by two companies with Navy contracts.
Updated on Nov. 12, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Should AI companies need public approval before testing technology on Lake Superior?
The Young Democratic Socialists of America student group at the University of Minnesota Duluth hosted a town hall Wednesday evening opposing the Anno AI and Spear AI testing projects in the Duluth region. Dozens of people attended the event.
Why it matters
The debate centers on proposed AI testing in Lake Superior and nearby areas, and on the military ties of the companies involved. The University of Minnesota Duluth has also clarified its separate role in a sensor-buoy research project.
Spear AI uses buoys in Lake Superior to gather data for training and enhancing AI models, while Anno AI is working to create the Lake Superior Test Range. The companies hold a $17.5 million Navy contract, but the status of the proposed range's approvals remains unclear.
The players
Spear AI
An AI company that uses buoys in Lake Superior to gather data for training and enhancing AI models, and that holds a $17.5 million Navy contract alongside Anno AI.
Anno AI
An AI company working to create the Lake Superior Test Range for testing autonomous vehicles, aircraft and vessels, and that holds a $17.5 million Navy contract alongside Spear AI.
University of Minnesota Duluth
A public university whose Minnesota Sea Grant program is working with industry partners on a multi-year sensor-buoy research project in Lake Superior.
The details
Student activists opposed the companies' plans for a test range covering areas around Duluth, Lake Superior and abandoned mines on the Iron Range, where autonomous vehicles, aircraft and vessels equipped with new AI models could be tested. The companies operate from a warehouse in Lincoln Park, and the University of Minnesota Duluth's Minnesota Sea Grant program clarified that it is not involved in weapons development and that the Large Lakes Observatory is not part of its buoy research project.
Timeline
Wednesday: Young Democratic Socialists of America hosted the town hall at UMD.
A year before publication: Companies reported the $17.5 million Navy contract and about a dozen employees.
The Tech Race
The proposed Lake Superior Test Range reflects a broader push by AI firms to test autonomous systems in real-world environments, with military contracts increasingly shaping where and how that testing happens. Local opposition like this town hall tests how far such commercial and defense-linked projects can expand into shared public waters.
Residents of Duluth and the Iron Range could see autonomous vehicles, aircraft and vessels tested in nearby waters and mine areas if the proposed test range proceeds. Those who live near Lake Superior may be affected by how the companies' buoy data collection and testing schedules are managed.
The takeaway
Local public input is shaping how AI testing projects in shared natural resources are evaluated, and residents can track how the proposed test range develops through public meetings.
Further reading
For more on the companies' work, see the Artificial Intelligence section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Northernnewsnow.
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Should AI companies need public approval before testing technology on Lake Superior?
