Latest news with #LouisMosley
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Police use Silicon Valley tech to track criminals
US tech giant Palantir is working with almost a dozen police forces in Britain to help track domestic abusers and fight crime, its UK chief has revealed. Louis Mosley, Palantir's UK chief and most senior executive outside of the US, said use cases for its technology included building up suspect profiles or synthesising vast amounts of data that have been lawfully gathered by a police force, such as suspicious messages, photographs or useful location data when a suspect's phone is seized. 'That old-school pinning of photos to a board is all digitised now,' he said. Mr Mosley added that Palantir has begun work tackling domestic violence cases as part of enforcing Clare's Law. This policy, named for Clare Wood who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009, gives people a 'right to ask' police for information if they fear their partner has a history of violence. Ensuring the police can readily access such information has been a challenge. 'When a perpetrator moves from one address to another, the fact they may have committed crimes in the past does not necessarily get tracked,' Mr Mosley said. 'What the software is doing is helping them to join that up. A check takes 10 minutes, an 85pc improvement.' Privacy concerns Founded in 2003, the Silicon Valley company initially worked closely with American counterterror and intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, whose venture fund was an early investor. It later delivered tools that helped US soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan detect improvised explosive devices. It has since expanded to support other Western agencies, including in the UK. In the UK, Palantir – a name that comes from seeing-stones in The Lord of the Rings – also works with private customers including BP and has expanded its work to other arms of the state. From its London office, dubbed the Grey Havens, another nod to Tolkien, Mr Mosley's division took on a £1 contract to build a Covid data store at the height of the pandemic. This has been followed by significant contracts with the NHS, including a £330m deal to overhaul how it uses of data. Its UK sales were £223m in 2024, up 11pc. Palantir has recently deepened ties with the NHS, helping to build an app for junior doctors to write discharge notes that has resulted in a 50pc time-saving. It is being trialled at Chelsea and Westminster hospital. Last year, the Government estimated that a UK-wide rollout would save £850m. Palantir's role on the tool has not previously been disclosed. 'It is a perfect use case for an LLM,' Mr Mosley said, referencing a 'large language model' similar to those that power ChatGPT. 'It's cutting down the time it takes to complete a discharge summary to minutes.' Palantir's role deploying such technology with Britain's police forces is likely to spark the concerns of privacy campaigners, who have lobbied against its work with the NHS. The fact that Palantir's chairman is Peter Thiel, a Republican and vocal Trump supporter who has argued the NHS 'makes people sick', has plainly not helped dispel fears of more shadowy motives. Mr Mosley insisted its police technology had been built with 'robust' privacy controls, and offered an audit trail that can track who accesses or modifies data. 'That goes right back to the origins of the business in intel and defence,' Mr Mosley said. 'We had to build the software with that level of robustness. If someone were to try to access information they are not entitled to see, you would know that, and you would know that very quickly.' Safeguarding 'the Shire' While Palantir has expanded into areas such as healthcare, its core business remains defence. Shares have climbed by 1,000pc since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a major customer. The business is now valued at close to $300bn (£220bn). Palantir has also been among Israel's most outspoken corporate supporters. In January, 2024, executives, including billionaire co-founder Mr Thiel and chief Alex Karp, flew to Tel Aviv to host a board meeting in the country, signing a renewed deal for military technology. Mr Mosley said: 'Palantir truly believes in the West. Israel is very much an ally of the West. We have never worked in Russia. We have never worked in China. We've never worked with countries that are adversarial to the West.' Visitors to its offices are offered a lanyard with the motto 'Save the Shire' – a nod to its stated mission of protecting Western nations from their enemies. Mr Mosley said Palantir worked with 'Western countries and allies of the West' providing them with a 'technological advantage over our adversaries', without which, 'our way of life, our values system, will be under threat'. 'People call us controversial,' he added, 'but I honestly don't see why that is a controversial position at all.' Palantir's military work includes providing data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to the West's militaries and intelligence agencies. Ties to both the British state and Mr Trump's White House now position the company as a key stakeholder in transatlantic diplomacy. In February, after Sir Keir Starmer finished a meeting with Mr Trump, he was whisked away to Palantir's Washington headquarters. Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US, previously advised the company. The UK hopes to secure a tech deal with the US, something plainly of interest to Palantir. Mr Mosley argued that greater alignment between the US and Britain on technology, in particular on AI, was vital. He said: 'If you compare the US and Europe, there is a technological revolution in the US, there isn't in Europe. The US is in the fast-lane, Europe is in the slow lane. 'We find ourselves with the opportunity to tack to one or the other. If you take tech, it is one of the big unintended benefits of Brexit. We are outside the European Union's AI Act. 'We are not hidebound by an incredibly bureaucratic regulatory overlay that is extremely chilling.' Perhaps most pressing for Palantir is the upcoming Strategic Defence Review. The UK is expected to dramatically increase its focus on AI, drones and unmanned weaponry based on battlefield lessons from Ukraine, where Palantir's tools have been widely used for analysis and decision-making in the field. 'AI offers the biggest capability uplift for the UK since the Cold War,' Mr Mosley said. One AI targeting tool it has developed for the US can do the work of 2,000 people with just 20, he added. If the UK does not move fast, China or Russia will. 'We are in a global arms race. It is critical that we and our closest allies, like the US, win that race.'
Associated Press
16-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Vatn Systems and Palantir Partner to Scale Manufacturing of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for National Defense
The partnership leverages Palantir's advanced software platform to supercharge its manufacturing process to rapidly scale production capabilities Collaboration brings AI-powered manufacturing to AUV production, bolstering the U.S. defense industrial base PORTSMOUTH, R.I., April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vatn Systems, a leading defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for the US military and allies, today announced a strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to further digitize and scale its manufacturing capabilities. 'Partnering with Palantir enables us to move smarter and faster as we achieve our vision of becoming the platform-scale manufacturer of low cost and attributable autonomous underwater systems in the United States,' said Nelson Mills, co-founder and CEO of Vatn Systems. 'Palantir's technology gives us real-time visibility into our operations, strengthening our ability to anticipate challenges, optimize resources, and deliver critical systems to our customers with unprecedented speed and precision.' The partnership leverages Palantir's advanced software platform to digitize the manufacturing process and provide AI-driven insights that will accelerate the production of underwater vehicles for national security applications. The collaboration will enable Vatn to streamline its Supply Chain Management and build additional resiliency. 'Vatn is building exactly the kind of mission-critical capability that our software is designed to support,' said Palantir's Louis Mosley. 'Providing a digital, AI-powered backbone for the company's operations, will help to build these AUVs faster, make them more adaptable and ultimately strengthen western deterrence.' Since its founding in April 2023, Vatn Systems has progressed from concept to deployment, delivering its first AUVs in 17 months. The company is already actively testing in military exercises with key defense organizations including the U.S. Navy. With 12 vehicles now in the hands of government customers and more on order, the company is accelerating production in partnership with Palantir. This collaboration marks an important milestone in strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base, modernizing how underwater systems are built, and combining the best software and hardware to develop the kinds of capabilities that can form the bedrock of Pillar 2 of the AUKUS defense and security partnership. About Palantir Technologies Inc. Foundational software of tomorrow. Delivered today. Additional information is available at About Vatn Systems Vatn Systems is a leading defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles that can be deployed at scale for the US military and allies. Founded in 2023 by a team of maritime experts and military leaders, Vatn Systems is on a mission to be the next underwater defense prime in a world where autonomous systems dominate naval battlefields. For more information, visit and follow the company on LinkedIn. Media Contacts Vatn Systems Contact McKenzie Hicks [email protected] Palantir Contact Lisa Gordon [email protected] View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Vatn Systems
