The two largest defense technology companies, Palantir and Anduril, are in talks with technology companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, Saronic, and ScaleAI to form a consortium to bid for Pentagon contracts, the Financial Times reports. It is said that they are doing so.
The aim, according to the FT, is to challenge the dominance of “major” defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing. One anonymous participant described this as an effort to “deliver a new generation of defense contractors,” while another said it was meant to sell the government's cutting-edge weapons and other technology. He said it would be a more efficient method.
The first partnership could be announced as early as January, according to the report.
Palantir and Anduril (both named after magical items from JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) announced the integration of Palantir's AI platform with Anduril's Lattice software earlier this month. announced and hinted that something similar was in development. At the time, the companies said they were “launching a new consortium to help the U.S. government lead the world in artificial intelligence.”