(Reuters) – Palantir has won a $480 million contract from the U.S. Defense Department for a prototype known as the Maven Smart System, the department said on Wednesday, deepening the data analytics provider’s collaboration with the Pentagon.
The contract has an expected completion date of May 2029 and follows a Department of Defense request for a single proposal, the release said.
According to one brigade’s description of the system earlier this year, Maven aggregates data from a variety of sources to identify military points of interest and speed up the work of intelligence analysts.
Identifying targets using artificial intelligence has sparked controversy in the technology sector, with some workers reluctant to build systems for war, as well as critics who fear decisions to make a killing strike may have minimal human control.
Palantir (NYSE:) did not immediately issue a statement.