Palantir Technologies (PLTR) saw its shares jump 10% in intraday trading on Thursday after announcing a strategic partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) to enhance the U.S. government’s national security capabilities using secure cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics technologies. Microsoft’s shares also experienced an uptick following the news.
The agreement will enable the U.S. defense and intelligence community, which includes entities such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military intelligence agencies, to leverage the combined AI and cloud solutions of Palantir and Microsoft for critical national security operations.
Through this partnership, U.S. government agencies will gain access to advanced large language models (LLMs) via Azure OpenAI Services, Microsoft’s cloud services offered in collaboration with OpenAI, and Palantir’s AI Platform (AIP).
Palantir, which already has several contracts with the U.S. government, including one with the U.S. Army focused on AI and machine learning, sees this collaboration as a significant enhancement in supporting national security efforts.
“Bringing Palantir and Microsoft capabilities to our national security apparatus is a step change in how we can support the defense and intelligence communities,” said Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer of Palantir.
While the specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the new offering is expected to strengthen the ties between Palantir and Microsoft.
Following the announcement, Palantir shares rose 10% to $28.96 around 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, while Microsoft shares edged up nearly 1% to $402.12.
