By Bloomberg

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Data analytics giant Palantir Technologies is strengthening its UK ties, pledging to invest £1.5 billion (US$2 billion) in the country while winning a deal with the UK Ministry of Defence to expand the use of its AI software, sources said.
Palantir is set to finalise a £750 million, five-year deal with the ministry by the end of the year, the sources said, declining to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
This replaces the current deal set to expire which is a £75 million, three-year arrangement, they added.
The company’s pledge to invest £1.5 billion in the UK by 2030 has a broader purpose, to build on existing work across health, policing, defence and other sectors. The effort is expected to generate 350 jobs – 200 at Palantir and the rest via other employers needed to help with its work, the source said.
Details of the tighter partnership between the UK and Palantir, some details of which were reported earlier by the Times of London, are set to be announced on Thursday during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region.
Palantir declined to comment on its plans.
Palantir’s focus on the UK marks a reversal from a couple of years ago, when the company reduced its European operations amid frustration with the region’s sluggish AI adoption.
Since then, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and CTO Shyam Sankar have increasingly spoken out on the topic of preserving Western democracies and national security amid ongoing global conflicts and tensions with China.
Co-founded by Karp and billionaire Peter Thiel in 2004, Palantir won early backing from the CIA. Although the company had some early success with US intelligence agencies and banks, it struggled to sell its software at scale for years because it required heavy customisation.
During the past year or so, the company has fine-tuned its sales approach as appetite for its AI tools from US government and commercial customers has increased.
Palantir recently reported its strongest sales growth in history.