San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – Palantir, the powerful data and AI company with deep ties to US national security bodies, has won a multi-billion-dollar contract to run US Army software and data. The agreement, announced Thursday, consolidates multiple contracts into a single enterprise deal that allows the military to buy Palantir’s products over the next decade to a value of up to $10 billion.
“By streamlining our procurement processes and leveraging enterprise-level discounts, we are not only enhancing our operational effectiveness but also maximizing our buying power,” said Army chief information officer Leo Garciga. Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has a reach that spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the US government, and the Israeli military among its ever-expanding client roster.
“We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world,” Alex Karp, Palantir’s CEO, recently declared at a client conference in Palo Alto, California. Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel — Silicon Valley’s preeminent conservative with long-standing ties to the Trump administration — Karp, and others with CIA backing.
In the first quarter, the company received $373 million from the US government, a 45 percent jump from the previous year. This spring, federal immigration authorities (ICE) awarded the company a $30 million contract to develop a new platform for tracking deportations and visa overstays.
© 2024 AFP
