“NATO has purchased a military system based on AI (Artificial Intelligence) from Palantir, the American software company led by Peter Thiel, a supporter of Donald Trump and with strong ties to the Pentagon, writes Financial Times.
The acquisition comes amid growing anxiety among European members about a possible US withdrawal from the Alliance, after Trump threatened to stop protecting the continent if allies do not drastically increase defense spending. NATO is also rushing to keep up with the development of AI-based military capabilities of rivals such as China.
Palantir’s intelligent Maven (NATO MSS) system uses generative artificial intelligence, machine learning, and large linguistic models (LLM) to provide “commanders with a secure and common operational capacity,” and will be used to support ongoing NATO operations, the Alliance announced on Monday.
The contract was negotiated over a six-month period and is described as “one of the fastest in NATO’s history,” and the system is expected to be operational within the next 30 days. NATO stated that the purchase was finalized last month, a transaction that “demonstrates a strong and lasting partnership between the North American and European technology base.”
The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but it is expected to be one of Palantir’s largest defense contracts of this year, writes Radu Tudor.
Peter Thiel, one of the most prominent conservative figures in Silicon Valley, was a significant supporter of Trump’s first presidential bid in 2016 and played a key role in supporting vice-presidential candidate JD Vance in his bid to become Trump’s vice president.
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