Palantir secures $100 million AI contract with U.S. Military

Palantir Technologies Inc. has secured a five-year contract worth $99.8 million to enhance access to its AI targeting tools for U.S. military personnel.

This contract will extend the availability of its digital warfare platform, known as the Maven Smart System, to all five branches of the U.S. military. These include the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force as reported by Bloomberg. 

Palantir’s system extends reach across all military branches

The Maven Smart System is designed to present actionable information about the battlefield to thousands of displays. The platform combines U.S. intelligence data with computer vision and AI software to increase situational awareness and target recognition. Recently, it has been used to identify targets for airstrikes in the Middle East, as the media has reported. 

Shannon Clark, the head of Defense Growth at Palantir, stated that the new contract will expand the usage of the platform so that tens of thousands of service members will be able to use it. Earlier, it was only possible to access them in certain locations and for certain units. This contract comes after a $480 million contract was awarded in May to extend the platform to combatant commands that are involved in military operations. 

The Maven Smart System was initiated in 2017 and has developed into one of the prominent programs spearheaded mainly by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). However, the DoD has released scarce information about the use of the technology in its operations. Nevertheless, it is argued that the system has been instrumental in identifying priority areas in Ukraine and U.S. operations in Yemen, Iraq, and Sudan. 

The Defense Department disclosed the contract in a daily notice stating the intention of the department to offer user licenses of the AI tool along with the required software and hardware support. Intelligence analysts and military personnel in remote areas will now be able to access the platform at the same time as the Pentagon headquarters, thus improving real-time communication and awareness. 

According to the NGA spokesperson, the work continues to introduce the platform to all military services and commands. Maven Smart System and its functions are critical to the Pentagon’s ongoing project of networking military sensors and weapons systems around the world.