tech
Trump praises Palantir as stock has worst week in over a year and Iran conflict drags on
Palantir's Maven platform have reportedly been used in the U.S. military campaign in Iran.
TL;DR
- Donald Trump praised Palantir on Truth Social for its "war fighting capabilities."
- Palantir's stock experienced its worst week in over a year, plunging 14%.
- The U.S. military reportedly uses Palantir's AI-powered Maven Smart System for target identification in the Middle East.
- Government contracts, including from the Pentagon and ICE, account for over half of Palantir's U.S. revenue.
- CEO Alex Karp is a vocal supporter of the military, despite past critiques of Trump and donations to Biden.
- The company has faced criticism for tools used in immigrant surveillance, and Karp's support for Israel led to employee departures.
- A Palantir communications chief's comment about a political shift toward the Trump administration was removed from The Information's platforms.
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) noted Trump's post was unusual and suggested it could be an attempt to boost the stock price of a major backer.
- Palantir is tied to AI lab Anthropic, which was blacklisted by the Department of Defense; Palantir plans to phase out Anthropic's models.
- Software stocks have sold off due to concerns about new AI models and potential misuse.
- Short seller Michael Burry has been targeting Palantir's stock, believing its fundamental value is below $50/share.
- Palantir's stock is trading around $126 after this week's slump.