Following the initial announcement of Project Ixian in September, Whitespace and its partners are now entering the next phase of delivery - advancing the UK’s first sovereign AI product focused on information integrity and resilience.
The Whitespace team is proud to be partnering with both Defence Holdings Plc (ALRT) and the UK Google organisation as the hyperscale provider for Project Ixian - an inaugural sovereign AI product focused on information integrity and resilience.
As Defence Holdings’ rapid engineering delivery partner and a certified Google Partner working with the Google Defence team, Whitespace is co-developing Project Ixian to be sovereign by design, scalable from inception, and operationally relevant - with a future path to scale into NATO via Google’s sovereign cloud platform (GDC) and in partnership with our UK MOD customer.
Where Project Ixian is today
- On a path to Google Distributed Cloud (GDC): Project Ixian is being engineered for future deployment on Google’s sovereign cloud platform (including air-gapped options), supporting stringent data residency, security, and sovereign control with a future route to NATO-aligned adoption.
- Currently running on GCP for Proof of Value: The Proof of Value build phase is deployed on Google’s commercial cloud (GCP), enabling rapid iteration, integration, and performance benchmarking
- Built on Google Gemini: Project Ixian’s AI capabilities leverage the Google Gemini technology stack to accelerate model development, multimodal understanding, and secure, policy-aligned inference
Why this matters
- The UK’s Strategic Defence Review 2025 (SDR25) calls for an integrated force where drones, data and digital warfare complement conventional power, and for innovation cycles measured in months, not years.
- In parallel, the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) sets a mission-driven partnership model: faster pull-through from R&D, open architectures, sovereign capability at scale, and clearer long-term demand signals to industry.
Project Ixian contributes directly to this direction.
- Information as critical infrastructure: Countering disinformation, digital vulnerabilities and narrative manipulation - core to SDR25’s focus on the information domain alongside ISR, cyber and autonomy
- Pace to capability: A PoV-first approach on GCP shortens iteration cycles now, while engineering a clear path to sovereign deployment on Google Distributed Cloud (air-gapped)
- Sovereign-by-design: Architecture, controls and data pathways are being built from the outset to meet sovereign assurance requirements and support operational independence
- Open, interoperable foundations: Designed for integration with Defence systems and primes, supporting DIS goals on open architectures and seamless data flows
Whitespace’s role
- Google Partner in Defence: We’re working with the Google Defence team to translate hyperscale capabilities into sovereign-ready Defence outcomes
- Rapid engineering delivery partner to Defence Holdings: Our teams are co-developing Project Ixian’s core services, hardening AI pipelines, embedding zero-trust patterns, and preparing for air-gapped deployment on Google Distributed Cloud
- Mission-led, user-informed delivery: We translate Defence end-user needs into fieldable software—accelerating time-to-value while maintaining sovereign standards
What’s next
Project Ixian is the first in a multi-product pipeline moving from concept to operational use through the Defence Technologies platform. As the Defence Industrial Strategy advances, including new partnership institutions and a stronger pull-through from innovation, Whitespace will continue to bring a software-first, sovereign-by-design approach that aligns with SDR25’s tempo and DIS’s long-term industrial goals.
Thank you to our partners at Defence Holdings and Google Cloud. Together, we’re building the sovereign, software-defined capabilities the UK needs. Secure Today, Ready for Tomorrow.
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