INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA / ACCESS Newswire / January 15, 2026 / Arrive AI (NASDAQ: ARAI), an autonomous delivery network company built around patented, AI-powered Arrive Points^™, today highlighted the strategic importance of Indiana's selection as a newly designated federal Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) testing site. It's the first such designation in more than a decade.

Announced by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, the designation places Indiana at the center of next-generation autonomy development, testing, and regulatory validation. The decision aligns with Governor Mike Braun's Indiana Initiative for Drone Dominance, leveraging the state's advanced manufacturing base, controlled airspace, military assets, and top-tier research institutions.

"This is a meaningful moment for Arrive AI," said Dan O'Toole, Founder and CEO of Arrive AI. "We're building autonomous delivery infrastructure in our home state, now officially recognized as a national hub for federal testing and validation. That proximity accelerates learning, execution, and long-term impact."

"For anyone watching autonomous delivery move from pilots to real deployment, this announcement matters," O'Toole added. "Autonomy doesn't scale on vehicles alone. It scales on infrastructure, regulation, and real-world validation. Indiana just strengthened all three."

Being aligned with a federally recognized testing environment provides Arrive AI early visibility into evolving FAA frameworks, tighter integration with autonomy partners, and a lower-friction path from pilot programs to scaled deployment.

"This isn't about geography," O'Toole said. "It's about being embedded where autonomy is transitioning from experimentation to infrastructure, while keeping operational costs and complexity lower by learning in our own backyard."

Infrastructure Is the Bottleneck and the Opportunity

Global investment in autonomous and drone-enabled logistics is expected to reach tens of billions of dollars over the next decade. Yet widespread deployment continues to face a critical bottleneck: secure, compliant delivery at the final destination.

Arrive AI is built to solve that problem.

The company is developing an AI-powered autonomous delivery network centered on secure, intelligent delivery points designed to solve the last inch of last-mile delivery. While drones and autonomous vehicles capture headlines, Arrive AI focuses on the infrastructure layer required for those systems to operate safely, securely and at scale particularly in healthcare, enterprise and regulated environments.

"As autonomous vehicles advance, value shifts to infrastructure that enables trust, verification and chain of custody," O'Toole said. "Every autonomous system ultimately needs a secure place to deliver. That's the layer Arrive AI is building."

Regulatory Momentum Reduces Risk

The establishment of a federally designated UAS testing site signals a broader shift from experimentation toward national deployment frameworks. It's an inflection point for the sector.

For Arrive AI, Indiana's selection provides early exposure to FAA standards, real-world testing of advanced autonomy workflows, and accelerated validation of air-to-ground delivery systems.

"We benefit from the acceleration of autonomous systems without the capital intensity or liability of operating aircraft," O'Toole said. "That positions Arrive AI as essential infrastructure as autonomy scales."

A Strategic Milestone for Arrive AI (NASDAQ: ARAI)

The new UAS testing site is expected to attract advanced manufacturing investment, defense partnerships and next-generation logistics innovation. Indiana's ecosystem, anchored by assets such as Camp Atterbury, Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, and Purdue University, creates a launchpad for autonomy at scale.

"For Arrive AI, this is more than regional pride," O'Toole said. "It reinforces that we're building long-term infrastructure in a state actively shaping national policy and deployment pathways for autonomous systems."

About Arrive AI

Arrive AI's patented Autonomous Last Mile (ALM) platform enables secure, efficient delivery to and from a smart, AI-powered mailbox, whether by drone, ground robot or human courier. The platform provides real-time tracking, smart logistics alerts and advanced chain of custody controls to support shippers, delivery services and autonomous networks. By combining artificial intelligence with autonomous technology, Arrive AI makes the exchange of goods between people, robots and drones frictionless and convenient. Its system integrates with smart home devices such as doorbells, lighting and security systems to streamline the entire last-mile delivery experience. Learn more at www.arriveai.com and via the company's press kit.

Media contact: Kylie Conway, media@arriveai.com

Investor Relations Contact: Alliance Advisors IR, ARAI.IR@allianceadvisors.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release and statements of Arrive AI's management in connection with this news release or related events contain or may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements, including but not limited to statements related to the future regulatory environment applicable to Arrive AI, the new Unmanned Aircraft System program is expected to attract high-paying jobs, defense and advanced manufacturing investment, and next-generation logistics innovation, and building productive and profitable products or systems related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "potential", "will", "should", "could", "would", "optimistic" or "may" and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management's current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may be beyond our control. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. Potential investors should review Arrive AI's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for more complete information, including the risk factors that may affect future results, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Arrive AI Inc.