Palantir surges 11% after deal to sell AI to US defense, intel agencies

Palantir shares closed higher as the intelligence company announced a deal with Microsoft to sell AI services to the US intelligence community.

Intelligence firm Palantir shares closed 11% higher on Aug. 8 as the company announced a partnership with tech giant Microsoft to sell AI services and analytics to United States defense and intelligence agencies. 

In an Aug. 8 statement, Palantir shared that it would integrate with Microsoft’s secure cloud technology to deploy its “suite of products” — including its main data platforms Foundry, Gotham, Apollo, and AIP — to US defense agencies across a range of secret and top-secret environments.

Palantir added that it would be an “early adopter” of Azure’s OpenAI Service in Microsoft’s top-secret environments.

The intelligence firm explained that it would look to leverage AI across a wide range of different sectors in defense operations, including logistics, action planning, and task prioritization.

“Bringing Palantir and Microsoft capabilities to our national security apparatus is a step change in how we can support the defense and intelligence communities,” said Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of Palantir.

Palantir reported strong Q2 earnings on Aug. 5 and upgraded its annual revenue estimates from $2.67 billion to $2.75 billion, forecasting a continued demand for AI-driven data services heading into 2025.

Palantir (PLTR) is currently trading at $29.28, up 18% on the week and 72% year-to-date, per TradingView data.

Palantir was co-founded in 2003 by billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel in a bid to provide enhanced data and analytics services specifically to US intelligence and defense agencies.

Since then, it has expanded its operations to cater to civilian clients, including multinational bank Morgan Stanley, German science firm Merck, and European aerospace company Airbus.

Related: US military partner Constellation opens Hypergraph network to app developers

In 2021, Palantir began accepting Bitcoin payments from its clients.

At the time, the firm said it was considering adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, saying the crypto asset was “definitely on the table” as a reserve asset. However, the firm has not since made any further announcements concerning the move to hold BTC.