Shares of Gaxos.ai Inc. experienced a significant premarket surge of approximately 42% on Friday, March 6, 2026. The dramatic move followed an announcement that America First Defense, a company Gaxos.ai recently agreed to invest in, has secured a license from the U.S. Navy for its proprietary counter-unmanned aircraft system technology.
Strategic Investment and Defense Pivot
This development provides the first substantive update since Gaxos.ai disclosed on March 3 its plan to acquire a 19.99% ownership stake in America First Defense for $2.9 million in cash. The transaction, outlined in a March 3 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was signed on March 2 and was projected to close on or before March 5. The investment represents a notable strategic shift for Gaxos.ai, whose recent financial performance has been primarily driven by health services and artificial intelligence software, rather than defense contracting.
For the first nine months of 2025, Gaxos.ai reported revenue of $692,974, with a significant portion derived from RNK Health administrative services. The company posted a net loss of roughly $3.2 million for that period. The $2.9 million investment in America First Defense is therefore more than four times the revenue Gaxos.ai generated in those nine months. In February, the company increased its at-the-market equity offering program by $2.6 million, following stock sales worth approximately $3 million.
The Licensed Technology
The licensed system, called the Detachable Drone Highjacker (DDH), is an electronic warfare platform designed to be carried by drones. Its purpose is to disrupt or seize control of adversarial unmanned aircraft systems. Chief Executive Vadim Mats described the technology as a "differentiated approach" based on "precision electronic warfare." The underlying intellectual property was originally developed at the Naval Postgraduate School.
However, the path from licensing to operational deployment and revenue generation remains uncertain. Neither the March 5 announcement regarding the license nor the earlier SEC filing provided details on potential customers, a deployment timeline, or financial projections for the DDH system.
Broader Market and Defense Context
This move aligns Gaxos.ai with larger industry players in the rapidly expanding military drone and counter-drone sector. The news arrives amid a concerted push by U.S. defense officials to accelerate the procurement of both drones and counter-drone technologies. In November, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll told Reuters the Army aimed to acquire at least one million drones within two to three years. More recently, Reuters reported that a cost-effective U.S. drone had already been deployed in Iran due to an expedited purchasing schedule.
Other established companies are also active in this domain. AeroVironment, for instance, has supplied the U.S. Army with its LOCUST laser-based counter-drone systems. Meanwhile, Red Cat Holdings is delivering its Black Widow reconnaissance quadcopters to the Army.
Management's Vision
Speaking on March 3, CEO Vadim Mats emphasized America First Defense's focus on creating "more precise" and "more scalable" technological solutions for its target market. The financial terms disclosed in the March 5 press release were consistent with prior announcements. For investors, the license grant and the strategic investment offer a clearer view of the specific assets Gaxos.ai is acquiring through its pivot into the defense technology space, even as the commercial and financial roadmap for the new system is still undefined.
