FILE PHOTO: Signage for Palantir is seen during the Association of the United States Army annual meeting and exposition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
NEW YORK: Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies and defence tech company Anduril Industries are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for US government work, the Financial Times reports.
The consortium, which could announce agreements with other tech groups as early as January, is expected to include SpaceX, OpenAI, autonomous shipbuilder Saronic and artificial intelligence (AI) data group Scale AI, the newspaper said, citing several people with knowledge of the matter.
“We are working together to provide a new generation of defence contractors,” a person involved in developing the group told the newspaper.
The consortium will bring together the heft of some of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies and will leverage their products to provide a more efficient way of supplying the US government with cutting-edge defence and weapons capabilities, the newspaper added.
Palantir, Anduril, OpenAI, Scale AI and Saronic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SpaceX could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Eearlier this month Reuters reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s planned US government efficiency drive involving Elon Musk could lead to more joint projects between big defense contractors and smaller tech firms in areas such as artificial intelligence, drones and uncrewed submarines.
Musk, who was named as a co-leader of a government efficiency initiative in the incoming government, has indicated that Pentagon spending and priorities will be a target of the efficiency push, spreading anxiety at defense heavyweights such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
Musk and several small defence tech firms have been aligned in criticising legacy defense programmes like Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet while calling for mass production of cheaper AI-powered drones, missiles and submarines.
Such views have given major defense contractors more incentive to partner with emerging defense technology players in these areas. — Reuters
