NATO has signed a historic agreement to deploy Palantir Technologies' Maven Smart System (MSS NATO), an artificial intelligence platform that is set to transform battlefield operations by significantly reducing the human resources needed to process combat data, the Financial Times reports.
The deal was one of the fastest procurements in the Alliance's history, taking just six months to complete. It was driven by NATO's desire to strengthen its technological capabilities amid growing threats from China and changing US policy on European security under President Donald Trump.
The AI-powered system, based on Palantir's Project Maven, allows a group of 20 to 50 soldiers to process vast amounts of battlefield intelligence — a task that previously required hundreds or even thousands of analysts in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. The software integrates generative AI, big data models, and machine learning to provide commanders with real-time operational information, improve decision-making, and automate threat detection.
"This type of battlespace management system could replace entire teams doing these fairly boring tasks," says Noah Sylvia, an analyst at the Royal United Forces Institute in London. "The fact that it was procured in six months is crazy by defense standards."
The NATO MSS will support ongoing operations and is expected to be fully operational within 30 days. NATO said the deal demonstrates “a strong and enduring partnership between the North American and European technology bases.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although it is likely to be one of Palantir’s largest defense contracts this year.
Palantir, co-founded by tech billionaire and Trump ally Peter Thiel, has won more than $2.7 billion in U.S. government contracts since 2009, including more than $1.3 billion from the Department of Defense. The company's shares have soared more than 300% in the past year on expectations of broader government and commercial use of its AI platforms.
The U.S. military already uses a version of Palantir’s Maven technology, extended by a $99.8 million contract signed last September. A similar version of the system has been deployed in Ukraine to help with real-time battlefield reconnaissance.
Project Maven was launched in 2017 using Google's AI technology, but the company withdrew from the project in 2018 after internal employee protests over the use of AI in warfare.
The special version of Palantir for NATO includes a modular platform for integrating other software tools and data sources to improve "intelligence fusion, targeting, battlespace awareness, operational planning and decision-making," as the Alliance notes.
While some NATO members, such as France, have developed national artificial intelligence systems like Artemis, experts say these tools remain alternatives, not direct competitors, to Palantir's Maven system.