Report: Palantir and Anduril join forces to try to secure US government defense contracts – News

The data analytics company Palantir Technologies Inc. reportedly is holding talks with the defense industry tech startup Anduril Industries Inc. on the creation of an alliance to win more work from the U.S. government.

According to the Financial Times, Palantir’s and Anduril’s consortium may also include companies such as SpaceX Corp. and OpenAI, as well as the artificial intelligence data startup Scale AI Inc. and the autonomous shipbuilding company Saronic Technologies Inc. The idea is that they’ll jointly bid for U.S. government contracts.

The Financial Times cited people with knowledge of the matter as saying the consortium could be announced as soon as next month. They are working together to “provide a new generation of defense contractors,” one of the sources said.

They intend to pitch their joint products and services as a “more efficient way of supplying the U.S. government with cutting-edge defense and weapons capabilities,” the paper added. The consortium’s goal is to upend the dominance of legacy defense contractors by creating a “more efficient way to sell the government cutting-edge weapons and other tech.”

Palantir is a U.S. software company that specializes in big-data analytics, helping organizations, including law enforcement agencies, to integrate and analyze large datasets. Anduril develops equipment for the defense sector. Its product portfolio includes aircraft, a truck equipped with hardware for processing sensor data, a jeep-like vehicle and a range of other systems. Several of Anduril’s machines are designed to operate autonomously.

They’re said to be creating the consortium in an effort to appeal to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, who has turned to the entrepreneur Elon Musk to lead a planned government efficiency drive that will trim billions of dollars from its technology budgets. The initiative is expected to result in more joint projects being awarded to smaller tech companies that specialize in areas such as AI, drones and uncrewed submarines, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Musk has previously said that Pentagon spending and priorities is one target of the efficiency push. His comments have caused considerable anxiety for traditional defense contractors, such as the Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp.

Along with many smaller defense technology firms, Musk has been heavily critical of legacy defense programs such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet, which is set to cost the U.S. government an estimated $1.7 trillion over its lifetime. As an alternative, he has called for the mass production of cheaper AI-powered drones, missiles and submarines.

This talk has reportedly incentivized traditional defense contractors to consider partnering with emerging technology firms to try and trim costs.

Earlier this month, Palantir and Anduril, which are both named after magical items in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, announced a partnership earlier this month. They intend to integrate Palantir’s AI platform with Anduril’s Lattice software in order to “transform America’s world-leading AI advancements into next-generation military and national security capabilities.”

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