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Nato has acquired an artificial intelligence-powered military system from Palantir, the US software company chaired by Donald Trump-backer Peter Thiel and with strong Pentagon connections.
The alliance’s choice comes amid rising anxiety among European members over a potential US withdrawal after Trump threatened to stop protecting the continent if capitals did not drastically increase defence spending. Nato is also racing to keep up with the development of rivals’ AI military capabilities such as China.
Palantir’s Maven Smart System (MSS Nato) uses generative AI, machine learning and large language models to provide “commanders with a secure, common operational capability” and will be used to support ongoing Nato operations, the alliance said on Monday.
Such “battle space management systems” allow 20-50 soldiers to do the work sifting through battlefield data that teams of hundreds or even thousands did in recent conflicts such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It’s able to take the place of entire teams doing these rather dull tasks,” said Noah Sylvia, analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think-tank.
France has developed Artemis, which Sylvia said was a “domestic alternative, but not a competitor” to Palantir’s Maven system, so as not to be reliant on the US.
Nato is moving at speed to step up its defence technology capabilities. The contract took just six months to complete — “one of the most expeditious in Nato’s history”, according to the alliance — and the system is expected to be operational within the next 30 days.
“The fact that it was procured in six months is insane by defence standards,” Sylvia said. “It typically takes years by the time that software is procured, certified, and then deployed. And by then it’s typically out of date.”
Nato said it completed the acquisition last month, a purchase that “demonstrat[es] a strong and abiding partnership between the North American and European technology base”.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is likely to be one of Palantir’s most significant defence contracts this year.
Thiel, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent conservative figures, was a prominent backer of Trump’s first run for president in 2016 and played a big role in supporting vice-president JD Vance in his successful bid to be selected as Trump’s running mate.
Palantir has won more than $2.7bn in US government contracts since 2009, including over $1.3bn in the defence department, according to federal records. Its stock is up more than 300 per cent over the past 12 months as investors expect the company will be a beneficiary of the Trump administration’s defence spending as well as commercial clients using its AI systems.
The US military uses its own version of Palantir’s Maven technology, which was extended with a $99.8mn five-year contract last September. A similar system has also been used in Ukraine.
Maven is used to bring together satellite imagery with other sources of battlefield information, using machine learning to scan for targets and speed up attacks.
The Pentagon’s Project Maven system dates back to 2017, when it started out using Google’s technology. Google later stepped away from the programme after a 2018 backlash from thousands of employees over the use of AI in warfare.
Palantir is providing Nato with a customised version of Maven, which provides a platform upon which other software applications and data sources can be integrated.
“We’re proud to support Nato’s drive to bolster deterrence by deploying an AI-enabled warfighting platform,” said Shon Manasco, senior counsellor at Palantir. “This partnership underlines the alliance’s determination to lead fearlessly with technological innovation.”
MSS Nato will “enhance intelligence fusion, targeting, battle space awareness, operational planning and decision-making”, Nato said.
“ACO [Allied Command Operations] is at the forefront of adopting technologies that make Nato more agile, adaptable and responsive to emerging threats,” said General Markus Laubenthal, chief of staff at Shape [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe], Nato’s military headquarters in Belgium.
“Innovation is core to our warfighting ability,” Laubenthal added. He praised MSS Nato for its capacity to “leverage complex data, accelerate decision-making” and add “a true operational value”.
Additional reporting by Charles Clover in London
