The Pentagon is moving to formally adopt Palantir Technologies’s Maven artificial intelligence system as a core program across the U.S. military, according to a letter from Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg.
In a March 9 memo to senior military leaders obtained by Reuters, Feinberg said integrating the Maven Smart System would give warfighters “the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains”.
The designation will make Maven a “program of record,” ensuring long-term funding and expanding its use across all branches of the military. The change is expected to take effect before the end of the current fiscal year in September.
Maven is a command-and-control platform that processes battlefield data and identifies targets.
It pulls information from satellites, drones, radar, and other intelligence sources, using AI to flag potential threats such as vehicles, infrastructure, and weapons stockpiles.
“It is imperative that we invest now and with focus to deepen the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Joint Force and establish AI-enabled decision-making as the cornerstone of our strategy,” Feinberg wrote.
JUST IN – Pentagon to adopt Palantir’s Maven AI as core U.S. military system, says Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg — Reuters pic.twitter.com/vQPuS6HPa1
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 21, 2026
The Pentagon has ordered oversight of Maven to shift from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office within 30 days.
Future contracts tied to the system will be handled by the U.S. Army.
The move marks a major win for Palantir, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel, and has secured a growing number of government contracts.
“This is Maven Smart System—Palantir’s software as a service product that we are deploying across the entire department.” pic.twitter.com/hIaQAiq4iJ
— Palantir (@PalantirTech) March 12, 2026
The company previously signed a deal with the U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion, contributing to a sharp rise in its valuation.
Palantir first gained prominence for its work with U.S. intelligence and defense agencies, including the CIA, the Department of Defense, and other national security bodies.
Its software has also been used for counterterrorism analysis, military planning, and intelligence operations.
Meanwhile, Maven has already been widely deployed and is used to rapidly analyze large volumes of battlefield data.
“When we started this, it literally took hours to do what you just saw,” Pentagon official Cameron Stanley said during a recent demonstration of the system.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon declared Anthropic’s Claude bot a supply chain risk amid a dispute over its potential use in autonomous weapons and surveillance systems.
Pentagon Declares Major AI Company a Threat to Military Supply Chain
