Latest news with #TacticalIntelligenceTargetingAccessNode
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Who are the four tech executives joining the US Army?
The US military created a new army reserve body earlier this month that included four players from the biggest tech companies in the world. The Army's new initiative – Detachment 201, called the Executive Innovation Corps to Drive Tech Transformation, will see senior tech executives serve as advisors to the military to 'help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems,' the army's website reads. 'By bringing private sector know-how into uniform, Det. 201 is supercharging efforts … to make the force leaner, smarter and more lethal'. (The US Army has issued an interest form since the four tech executives joined in the hopes of recruiting more tech executives to the detachment.) The first four reserve members are Shyam Sankar, Palantir's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, Meta's chief technology officer, Kevin Weil, OpenAI's chief product officer, and Bob McGrew, advisor at Thinking Machines Lab and former chief research officer at OpenAI. All four have been given the title of Lieutenant Colonel, a senior officer rank that often oversees battalions of between 300 to 1,000 people. Shyam Sankar Shyam Sankar claims he joined Palantir Technologies, an American company that trades in software platforms for big data analytics as 'employee #13'. He said he brought the forward deployed engineer role to the company, a software engineer who works directly with clients to embed Palantir's technology into its weapons. Sankar holds a bachelor's in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University and a master's degree in management science and engineering from Stanford University. In 2024, Sankar wrote the 'Defence Reformation,' a 4000-word 'treatise' that lays out how he believes the US should reform its military, including ways to introduce more competition into a defence tech industry that he believes has been consolidated. 'We are in [a] state of undeclared emergency,' he wrote. 'For more than three decades, we've accepted a stagnant Defence Industrial Base … with no great power competition. 'Change is now possible because we all realise there is something worse than change: irrelevance,' he said. Sankar's swearing in to the military comes a few weeks after Palantir won a $795 million (€678.5 million) contract for its Maven Smart System software licenses. Earlier this year, the company also provided the US military with its first Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) systems, the first AI-powered mobile ground station to help soldiers with warfare strategy. Andrew Bosworth Bosworth, known in the tech community as 'Boz,' joined Meta in 2006 when Mark Zuckerberg was ramping up the social media platform Facebook. Initially, Bosworth was Zuckerberg's teaching assistant in an artificial intelligence (AI) class at Harvard in 2004. Despite rarely coming to his class, Facebook recruiters called Bosworth while he was working at Microsoft in Seattle, and the rest is history. The company credits Bosworth with creating the News Feed, where users often see recent posts from their friends and family, along with early 'anti-abuse systems' that are still in place on the network. In 2017, Bosworth created the company's first virtual reality (VR) division called Reality Labs, which he still leads. He also leads the company's artificial intelligence (AI) efforts, called Meta AI, and Meta's smart glasses technology. He said on X that he was 'honoured' to join the US military because he is 'deeply invested in helping advance American technological innovation'. Bosworth's swearing in comes less than a month after Meta and US-based defence tech company Anduril announced a partnership to integrate extended reality (XR) products into American warfighters, giving them 'enhanced perception … and intuitive control of autonomous platforms on the battlefield'. In an interview with CNBC, Bosworth said his decision to serve is separate from defence deals that Meta has made. Kevin Weil and Bob McGrew McGrew, OpenAI's former chief researcher, is now an advisor to Thinking Labs. The new AI start-up, founded by ex-OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, is now worth an estimated $10 billion (€8.53 billion), six months after launch. McGrew shared on X that he left OpenAI last September, describing his eight years at the company as a 'humbling and awe-inspiring journey'. In the message, he shares that he was a part of pioneering large language models (LLMs) at the company as well as building some of the first multimodal models of the popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT. He also launched ChatGPT's o1 series that reasons through complex tasks such as science, coding and math. Weil is a recent recruit to OpenAI, having joined the company in 2024 as chief product officer. He's leading a team 'focused on applying our research to products and services that benefit consumers, developers and businesses,' according to the company. Before joining OpenAI, Weil has had stints at many of the dominant social media companies, starting at Twitter, now known as X. As the social network's head of product, he claims he scaled the company from 40 to 4,000 employees and from $0 to $2 billion (€1.7 billion) in annual revenue. Weil also worked as vice-president of product at Instagram and kept that same job after Meta's acquisition of the social media site until 2021. At Instagram, he's credited with launching 'Instagram Stories,' a part of the app where users share up-to-date images or videos of what they are up to. Weil also serves on a variety of boards, like Cisco, the US Nature Conservancy and is listed as 'Operator in Residence' at his wife Elizabeth Weil's venture capital firm, Scribble Ventures. His LinkedIn profile says he graduated from Harvard University in 2005 with a bachelor's in physics and mathematics and a master's degree from Stanford University in physics. OpenAI was awarded a $200 million (€170.7 million) US defence contract to 'develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,' three days after Weil was named to the US Army.
Bloomberg
01-05-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Palantir's Intelligence-Gathering Truck Rated a Winner by Army
Palantir Technologies Inc. 's new mobile battlefield intelligence-gathering vehicle and trailer for the US Army is ranked by its leaders as among their top-performing programs, according to a new assessment by the service. An April report to Congress of the Army's 'Highest and Lowest Performing' programs lists the company's Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node — or Titan — and four other weapons systems among the star performers. No major systems were among the lowest-ranked.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These Growth Stocks Are Crushing the S&P 500 in 2025. Should You Buy Them?
After a strong run for the stock market the past two years, volatility has returned in 2025. But there are pockets of opportunity among top growth stocks. While the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is down 8% at the time of writing, some companies that entered the year with strong momentum are holding up quite well. Shares of Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) are two of the best performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year. Let's look at what is driving their share prices higher, and whether these top performers are still good investments. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Leading businesses and governments are modernizing with artificial intelligence (AI). Palantir Technologies is one of the top providers of AI-powered data analytics software. The stock has had a phenomenal run, rising 1,500% since 2022. It has continued to perform well in 2025, up 33% as of April 23. But investors have to wonder if the stock has gotten too far ahead of the company's actual performance. Palantir delivered accelerating revenue growth over the past year. In the fourth quarter, U.S. commercial revenue grew 64% year-over-year. Companies are choosing Palantir to improve efficiency and speed up decision making. For example, a leading telecommunications company recently signed a $40 million deal with Palantir, which will free up capital from using older technology and equipment. Palantir also is playing a vital role in strengthening the U.S. military with cutting-edge technology. Its U.S. government revenue grew 45% year-over-year in Q4. Palantir developed its Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) for the U.S. Army that uses AI to improve strike targeting and accuracy on the battlefield. These use cases indicate the level of sophistication of Palantir's AI capabilities, and that's why leading companies continue to sign multimillion-dollar deals. It's also benefiting the stock that the company is converting these growing revenues into a healthy profit. The company made $462 million in net profit on $2.9 billion of revenue last year. The only negative with Palantir stock is the valuation. The shares trade at an astronomical 548 times earnings at the time of writing. At these lofty share prices, the stock could be overshooting the company's worth. While it's impossible to predict the timing, investors have to assume that this nosebleed valuation could lead to a downward correction in the share price. It might be best to wait for the stock to settle at a lower earnings multiple before starting an investment. Investors shouldn't overlook the momentum happening in the global ride-hailing market. Uber Technologies has made substantial investments in its technology and service, and it is translating to strong growth. The stock climbed 200% since 2022 and 22% year to date through April 23, but its valuation could leave room for more gains over the next year and beyond. Uber's growth suggests it is going after a huge opportunity in the transportation market. It offers multiple services tailored for healthcare, freight, and enterprise. It's also expanding into membership that offers special discounts on Uber Eats and rides and has already reached 30 million subscribers so far, up 60% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. It's also investing in the future. The company has partnered with Google's Waymo self-driving car unit, in addition to China's WeRide. Its autonomous ride service recently launched in Austin, Texas, and is soon launching in Atlanta, Georgia. Overall, Uber currently has multiple partners working on autonomous ride and delivery services. Uber benefits from a capital-light business model, where drivers maintain their own vehicles, which leaves a lucrative revenue stream coming from fees on every ride and delivery. Last year, Uber's operating profit more than doubled to $2.8 billion, and there seems to be more room for growth as the company improves margins. Analysts expect Uber's earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 30% in the coming years, yet investors can buy shares for just 23 times 2025 earnings estimates. That's a fair multiple for an average growth stock, so investors should expect Uber shares to deliver satisfactory returns over the long term. Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,319!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Palantir Technologies, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. These Growth Stocks Are Crushing the S&P 500 in 2025. Should You Buy Them? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Globe and Mail
12-03-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Palantir Kicked Off Mobile Battle Station Deliveries to the US Army. Is It Time to Buy PLTR Stock on the Dip Now?
Palantir (PLTR) has been the second most-watched stock on Wall Street, right after Nvidia (NVDA). The stock has delivered multibagger returns that shattered even the most bullish projections and has broken the rules on just how much investors are willing to pay. Unfortunately, that performance has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks. Palantir rallied through 2024 and into early 2025 alongside a bull market run in the broader indexes like the S&P 500 ($SPX). Selling PLTR stock seemed like a bad idea back then, as you could lose out on more gains. Investors were shrugging off astronomical valuations. Indeed, it wouldn't be a stretch to expect the mania to make PLTR trade at 1,000 times earnings. That AI hype is now gone. And without those tailwinds, Palantir's stock has stalled and has declined nearly 40% from its peak price. Given the decline, should you consider buying the dip? Let's take a look at what has happened. Palantir's Mobile Battle Station Contract and Stock Outlook Palantir recently began delivering its Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) mobile battle stations to the U.S. Army under a $178 million contract. It is now transitioning from being primarily a software provider to a major defense contractor. The TITAN systems integrate Palantir's artificial intelligence technology to enhance situational awareness and targeting precision for soldiers, so many investors believe this could drive up demand for Palantir's software products, too, if the government expands its partnership. The TITAN program could expand significantly if full-rate production is approved after 2026. The U.S. Army estimates acquiring between 94 and 150 units. In the best-case scenario, up to $1.5 billion in additional revenue could go toward Palantir. These government contracts are sticky sources of revenue and have been one of the key reasons investors are so willing to pay a premium for PLTR stock. Should You Buy PLTR Because of the TITAN Contract? The announcement of the TITAN contract in March 2024 initially caused Palantir's stock to surge nearly 10% on March 6, 2024. However, analysts have noted that despite this contract, Palantir's revenue trajectory has not significantly outpaced earlier trends. This is a small contract compared to Palantir's size. And given the double-digit surge on its announcement, this was already priced into the stock. Palantir rarely fails to meet commitments, so news of successful deliveries isn't something to be ecstatic about. With that in mind, I wouldn't buy the dip on PLTR solely because of TITAN deliveries. Is Palantir Stock a Buy or a Sell? If we look beyond this contract and zoom out, Palantir is on solid footing. It's hard to argue against this business. It's also hard to argue in favor of paying 636 times trailing earnings for the stock. You're going to need an extremely bullish market to maintain that valuation, let alone expand it. Considering the lack of good news coming out of macroeconomic data and the trade war uncertainty, it's likely that any PLTR recovery is going to be short-lived. Still, if you're confident that the market will start rallying again, PLTR can deliver returns. The mean price target of $85.11 implies roughly 2% upside potential. A 'Hold' rating seems to fit PLTR the best. Lingering uncertainty will push it lower, but a short-term recovery may be around the corner after so many red candles.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Palantir delivers first 2 next-gen targeting systems to Army
Palantir Technologies announced Friday it has delivered the first two Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node systems to the U.S. Army — a next-generation ground system meant to strengthen the link between data-gathering sensors and weapons in the field. The Army awarded the firm a $178 million contract in March 2024 to build 10 next-generation, AI-defined ground systems, known as TITAN. 'One year after being granted a prime agreement for TITAN's development and delivery, the first TITAN systems of this phase are complete on time and on budget, a significant milestone for the Army's modernization priorities,' the company said in a statement. TITAN is designed to help the Army strengthen the connection between its data-collecting sensors and the weapons and decision-makers on the ground, improving the accuracy and speed of its long-range targeting capabilities. Palantir declined to confirm when it's next delivery is scheduled, but the company expects to complete all 10 systems by 2026, after which the Army will decide whether to carry TITAN into full-rate production. Although the service hasn't said how many systems it will buy, officials have estimated between 100 and 150 units. Of the TITAN systems Palantir is delivering in this initial contract, five will be advanced variants that can integrate with tactical trucks and receive data from space sensors. The other five will be basic variants that will be installed on the Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Although it won't have a direct space downlink, the basic version will be able to access some data from space sensors. The company told Defense News it handed over one of each variant as part of its initial delivery. The company is partnering with several other firms on the effort, including Anduril Industries, Northrop Grumman, Pacific Defense, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Strategic Technology Consulting, World Wide Technology and L3Harris. The team has been working closely with Army units, and a Palantir spokesman said the company has 'integrated a wide range of soldier feedback' over the last year to improve TITAN's baseline hardware and software.
