Ukraine is using Palantir's software for 'targeting,' CEO says
02/02/2023 24:48
By Jeffrey Dastin
PALO ALTO, Calif. Feb 1 (Reuters) - Data analytics
company Palantir PLTR.N is "responsible for most of the
targeting in Ukraine," Chief Executive Alex Karp said Wednesday,
elaborating on the U.S. company's work with Kyiv since Russia's
invasion last year.
Its software helps Ukraine target, for instance, tanks and
artillery, a Palantir spokesperson said.
The remarks are some of Karp's most direct yet on how
Palantir, which got its start two decades ago supporting U.S.
intelligence services, is aiding Ukraine's war effort.
Karp was the first head of a global business to meet
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy following Russia's
February 2022 invasion of the country. The company, whose
co-founders include Karp and investor Peter Thiel, has opened an
office in Ukraine.
Last month, at an event Palantir hosted in Davos,
Switzerland, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said
technology allowed real-time tracking of the war's developments.
Ukraine has compiled information on enemy troop movements in
a situational awareness system such as Palantir's, based on
which its military decides a course of action, Fedorov said.
Palantir has marketed its software as a way to quickly
determine resources to deploy, taking in feeds from satellites
and social media to visualize an army's positions, or making
expansive data files easier to query.
Asked about artificial intelligence (AI) that can generate
content on its own, technology that has been the talk of Silicon
Valley, Karp said that ethics needed to be considered before
deploying software that could take independent action.
"There are huge ethical issues on the battlefield," he said
at an event Palantir hosted in Palo Alto. "If you use an
algorithm to generate a military decision and it goes wrong,
who's responsible?"
Palantir recently signed a 75 million pound ($91.4 million)
deal with Britain's Ministry of Defence.
It also sells technology to other government agencies and
enterprises. The company is expanding its work with Japan's
Sompo Holdings Inc 8630.T through a five-year, $50-million
deal announced Wednesday, which will help the insurer and care
provider address social issues like aging, its top digital
officer Albert Chu told Reuters.
Japan is a "very high priority" market for Palantir
including in defense, another Palantir official, Kevin Kawasaki,
said in an interview.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif.; Editing by
Stephen Coates)
((Jeffrey.Dastin@thomsonreuters.com; +1 424 434 7548;))