NATO has signed a significant agreement with Palantir Technologies to deploy the Maven Smart System (MSS NATO), aimed at revolutionizing military operations by reducing the manpower required for combat data analysis, as reported by the Financial Times.

This agreement marks one of the fastest procurements in NATO's history, taking only six months. The urgency stemmed from NATO's desire to enhance its technological capabilities in light of rising threats from China and shifts in U.S. policy towards European security under President Trump.

The AI-based system, derived from Palantir’s Project Maven, enables a small group of soldiers to process vast amounts of intelligence data from the battlefield, a task that previously required hundreds or even thousands of analysts in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. The software integrates generative AI, large language models, and machine learning to provide commanders with real-time operational information, improving decision-making processes and automating threat detection.

“This type of battlefield management system can replace entire teams performing these rather mundane tasks,” says Noah Silvya, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London. “The fact that it was procured in six months is astonishing by defense standards.”

MSS NATO will support ongoing operations and is expected to be fully operational within 30 days. NATO highlighted that this agreement demonstrates a “strong and resilient partnership between the North American and European technology bases.” The financial terms of the agreement are undisclosed, but it is likely one of Palantir’s most significant defense contracts this year.

Palantir, co-founded by billionaire and Trump associate Peter Thiel, has received over $2.7 billion in government contracts from the U.S. since 2009, including more than $1.3 billion from the Department of Defense. Over the past year, the company’s stock has soared by more than 300%, driven by expectations of broader use of its AI platforms by government and commercial entities.

The U.S. military is already using 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 assist with real-time battlefield intelligence.

The Maven project was initiated in 2017 using Google’s AI technology, but the company withdrew from the project in 2018 following internal employee protests regarding the use of AI in warfare.

Palantir's special version for NATO includes a modular platform for integrating other software tools and data sources to enhance “intelligence fusion, targeting, situational awareness, operational planning, and decision-making,” as noted by the Alliance.

While some NATO members, like France, have developed national AI systems such as Artemis, experts say that these tools remain alternatives rather than direct competitors to Palantir’s Maven system.