Palantir CEO Alex Karp told CNBC on Thursday that artificial intelligence is giving the United States and its allies an advantage in the escalating conflicts in Iran and across the Middle East.
“What makes America special today is our lethal capabilities, our ability to wage war,” Karp said at Palantir’s AIPcon 9 in Maryland. He added that another big advantage is that “the AI revolution is uniquely American.”
Karp alluded to his company’s ability to link combat data between the United States and Middle East partners affected by Iranian airstrikes.
“If you’re under attack and you need to adjust, you’re going to need the ability to adjust. There’s only one product that can actually do that for security,” Karp said, referring to Palantir’s platform.
Palantir’s Project Maven is a real-time AI monitoring capability powered by satellite imagery. According to the Wall Street Journal, the platform was used along with Anthropic’s Claude to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Karp declined to comment on whether Maybin was used to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli military operation two weeks ago.
“I read that Palantir’s Project Maven is at the heart of that,” he said, speaking generally about U.S. involvement in the Middle East. “And I’ve also read that all allies, both Arab and non-Arab in the Middle East, may or may not be users of our platform. And that’s growing rapidly.”
Industry experts and executives say AI is pushing conflict to new heights. That was evident when Iran carried out three bombings. Amazon Last week at a data center in the Middle East.
Data centers in the United States are increasingly viewed as national security assets, hosting critical digital infrastructure used by governments and large corporations.
“They’re evil, they’re not stupid,” Karp said. “Look who’s on the list and who’s not. We’re in the middle of a war. You would expect this to be a list of hardcore military companies. They’re interested in things they can’t produce.”
Palantir may be best known for its defense technology, but its commercial business is also booming. U.S. commercial revenue increased 137% to $507 million in the fourth quarter.
Palantir stock is up 12% so far this month, while the Nasdaq is down about 1.6%.
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