Germany's Helsing to unveil AI-based military software as a rival to Palantir

BERLIN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - German defence firm Helsing will present new artificial intelligence-based military targeting software on Wednesday, seeking to benefit from growing concerns among European governments about relying on US companies such as Palantir.

After President Donald Trump's repeated threats to quit NATO, concerns over dependence on Washington and data sovereignty have fuelled resistance against US data analytics and defence software firm Palantir in parts of Europe.

The company makes the best-known military AI system of its kind, the Maven Smart System, which has been deployed by the US, NATO commands and several NATO members.

In the invitation to the Berlin presentation of its system, Helsing said it was "crucial that we be able to conduct precise reconnaissance, make the right decisions in the face of uncertainty, and act with precision on the battlefield, with autonomy and without dependencies: from Europe and for Europe".

The war in Ukraine has shown the value of AI tools in dramatically speeding up battlefield decision-making by rapidly processing and interpreting vast streams of data generated by drones, satellites and other sensors.

PALANTIR INSISTS CUSTOMERS ARE IN FULL CONTROL

Palantir has insisted its customers are in full operational ‌control of the software that they buy from the company and that it does not have a "kill switch" to deactivate it remotely.

Concerns over dependence on the US were exacerbated last month after speed restrictions for Ukraine's Starlink terminals hampered Kyiv's efforts to intercept Russian drones and forced some operations to be cancelled.

In June, the Trump administration moved to block non-US residents from Anthropic's most advanced models, Mythos and Fable, on national security grounds, prompting the AI company to abruptly suspend access to the models globally.

The ban was lifted later the same month, but European lawmakers still warn the episode showed that the US holds a "kill switch" over essential technologies that it is more than willing to use.

The German military has made clear that, for now at least, it will not buy Palantir's Maven for its forces. The country is aiming to deploy its own AI-powered system from 2027, with full implementation expected in 2028.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Jan Harvey)