US Defense Extends Contract With Palantir That Google Dumped Earlier

• The Defense Department awarded Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR) a $229 million deal to develop and deliver artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities for the Special Forces, the Joint Staff, and every branch of the U.S. Armed Services.

• Palantir, co-founder Peter Thiel, attacked rival Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google for eschewing work with military applications.

• Palantir’s latest deal is part of a program that hit the headlines in 2018 after Google employees objected to developing AI capabilities for the Defense Department, Bloomberg reports.

• Google ditched the contract, and Palantir took the lead, using AI and machine learning to improve existing video recognition software and analysis to increase the accuracy of actions like drone strikes.

• Partly founded with seed money from the Central Intelligence Agency following the September 11 attacks, Palantir labeled Google’s abandonment of the contract as anti-American.

• Earlier this week, Palantir renewed its contract with Homeland Security Investigations.

• CEO Alex Karp claimed a 20% - 30% chance of nuclear war after Russian President Vladamir Putin clarified not holding back from using such weapons to defend his country.

• Price Action: PLTR shares traded lower by 0.25% at $7.92 on the last check Thursday.

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