Palantir enters partnership with Microsoft to sell AI to US defense
Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., walks to a morning session at the Allen & Co. Technology and Communications Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Palantir Shares rose about 6% Thursday morning after the company announced a partnership with Microsoft to sell secure cloud, analytics, and artificial intelligence capabilities to the U.S. defense and intelligence communities.
Palantir, which works closely with governments to provide military location visualization software and other services, will use the partnership to launch its products — such as Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and AIP — on Microsoft’s cloud products for government agencies.
Palantir reported income earlier this week, raising its annual revenue forecast to $2.74 billion to $2.75 billion, from $2.68 billion to $2.69 billion. That was above LSEG’s consensus estimate of $2.7 billion.
CEO Alex Karp said in a letter to shareholders at the time that the company’s revenue from its U.S. government business, which includes intelligence and defense agencies, topped $1 billion for the first time in the 12 months leading up to the quarter. The company got 54% of its revenue from government customers in the second quarter.
Microsoft said the partnership will enable US defense and intelligence organizations to build AI tools for operational planning and logistics, among other purposes.
Palantir, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, will partner with Microsoft to offer trial services and training sessions.
Palantir shares are up about 60% year to date.
