One of the most important publicly traded artificial intelligence companies is ramping up their partnership with the United States military.
What’s happening:
- Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) has been awarded a new deal from the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory to make their Maven Smart System technology more widely accessible to the United States military
Why it matters:
- The new deal will accelerate the ability for the United States Army, Navy and Space Force to get access to leading edge artificial intelligence and machine learning technology developed by Palantir
- Domestic defense tech has been seeing continual innovation and funding, with American defense tech company Anduril recently announcing their new line of simplified cruise missiles following their latest mega funding round to expand their production capabilities and iconic startup incubator Y Combinator making their first ever bet on defense tech
By the numbers:
- The contract between DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory and Palantir is worth $99.8M USD over 5 years
Going deeper:
- Palantir was originally backed by legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel and has seen an explosion in its share price lately following multiple new notable contracts from healthcare companies, government agencies and even oil producers
- The Maven Smart System has been one of the most prominent developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning for military purposes due to its capabilities to rapidly compile data that is relevant to combat missions, from analyzing satellite imagery to providing real time threat detection all inside of a software platform
The intrigue:
- There has been a long history of contracts between the United States government and Palantir, with the Pentagon previously awarding Palantir just under half a billion dollars to further advance the technology underpinning the Maven Smart System
