Following Trump’s visit to the UK this week, the British government has now announced a billion-dollar deal with controversial US software manufacturer Palantir. The British government plans to invest US$1 billion in Palantir military products over the next five years. Palantir itself plans to spend $2 billion in the country to establish its European headquarters for defense on the island. And a lot of money is also flowing into the UK: shortly after the Palantir deal was announced, numerous large US tech companies announced billion-dollar investments on the island.
Palantir is one of the most polarizing tech companies around. Palantir promises to extract actionable insights from the data of modern organizations. For example, Palantir can support criminal investigators by quickly consolidating all available data on a suspect using Palantir tools. Palantir is also used by the military and intelligence services.
New AI capabilities for the military
According to a press release from the British government, Palantir’s plans to establish a branch in the UK would create up to 350 new jobs. Palantir and the British military want to develop AI-supported capabilities that have already been tested in Ukraine to accelerate decision-making, military planning, and target selection. The British defense minister signed the partnership agreement this week.
The agreement will also promote the growth of British companies in the defense technology sector along the entire supply chain, with Palantir advising British companies and supporting their development, according to the government. This includes supporting British defense startups and SMEs in their expansion into US markets.
Even more billions from the US economy
Just two days earlier, numerous large US tech companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and Nvidia, together with the British government, announced their intention to invest a total of around $42 million in the UK. This will take the form of infrastructure such as data centers and subsidies for British start-ups, among other things. However, the British tech magazine The Register suspects that the individual investments had been planned well in advance and does not rule out the possibility that they were announced in a targeted manner to coincide with Trump’s visit.
Palantir is owned by US tech billionaire Peter Thiel. When the startup was founded in 2003, it received financial support from the CIA investment fund In-Q-Tel. Palantir has since developed into a publicly traded company that supplies governments and large corporations worldwide. While proponents praise the software as a revolutionary tool for data-driven decision-making, critics warn of surveillance, lack of transparency, and vendor lock-in effects. Some German states also use Palantir for their police authorities, and Federal Interior Minister Dobrindt is already considering nationwide deployment.
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This article was originally published in
It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.
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