Latest news with #PeterThiel-backed
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's $795M Data Power Play Sends Palantir Soaring 140%--But Here's the Hidden Risk
Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) is riding a wave of government contracts as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to centralize and analyze federal data. Since Trump signed an executive order in March calling for more interagency data sharing, Palantir has quietly become the go-to vendor for building that digital infrastructure. The company has landed more than $113 million in new and extended federal contracts since Trump took officeincluding a blockbuster $795 million deal with the Pentagon last week. Palantir's Foundry platform is already in use at Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, and engineers were recently embedded at the IRS to begin building a unified, searchable database for taxpayer records. Talks are also underway with the Social Security Administration and Department of Education, suggesting more agencies could follow. Investor enthusiasm hasn't lagged. Since Trump's re-election, Palantir shares have surged more than 140%, fueled by the prospect that the company may now become the digital backbone of the U.S. federal government. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)a Musk-led initiativehas been instrumental in Palantir's rise, with several DOGE members having ties to Palantir or Peter Thiel-backed ventures. The company's tools are now being used to connect data points ranging from immigration status and bank accounts to student loans and disability claims. In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded Palantir a $30 million contract to track migrant movements in real timeanother sign of how fast the government is scaling its use of Foundry. Still, not everyone's cheering. Inside Palantir, dissent is brewing. Thirteen former employees recently signed an open letter opposing the company's deepening role under Trump, citing risks of surveillance overreach and reputational blowback. This is a red line I won't redraw, said Brianna Katherine Martin, a departing strategist. Engineers have raised concerns about the aggregation of sensitive data and sloppy security practices from some government users. Palantir insists it acts purely as a data processor under client direction, but the scale and sensitivity of the work has sparked internal debates about how far is too far. Investors, for now, seem focused on the upsidebut the longer-term consequences could be harder to quantify. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
28-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Thiel-Backed Fintech N26 to Offer Mobile Service to Boost Growth
N26, the Peter Thiel-backed German neobank, is planning to offer mobile phone contracts to customers as it seeks new avenues for growth, copying a strategy that its larger competitor Revolut introduced last year. 'Germany has some of the most expensive local plans among telecommunication markets in Europe,' Chief Executive Officer Valentin Stalf told Bloomberg News in an interview on Monday. N26 will start offering telecom services in May using one of the top two German mobile networks, he said.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A German drone manufacturer backed by Peter Thiel says it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025
German drone maker Quantum Systems says it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025. The company has supplied Ukraine with drones since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Billionaire Peter Thiel is one of the investors backing the startup. German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems has said it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025. In a press release on Friday, the Peter Thiel-backed startup said the planned expansion reflected its "unwavering commitment" to ensure Kyiv gets the technology it needs amid its ongoing war with Russia. Quantum, which has already established two facilities in Ukraine, produces several uncrewed aerial systems used by Kyiv, including the "Vector" reconnaissance drone and the "Trinity" mapping drone. Since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has ordered hundreds of these systems from the company. Quantum's Vector drone is primarily used for target identification and surveillance. It can fly for up to 180 minutes, allows for real-time video streaming over a range of 35 kilometers (almost 22 miles), and has vertical take-off and landing capability, the company says. The "rucksack portable" drone weighs just 18 pounds and is equipped with on-board AI. The Munich-based company also produces the "Trinity Pro" and "Trinity Tactical," which are used for mapping and surveying. These drones can cover an area of 700 hectares in one flight and can fly for 90 minutes, Quantum says. They can use a variety of sensors to gather data, such as multi-spectral cameras and LiDAR scanners. They can be deployed to help with environmental and battle damage assessments, as well as surveying and mapping key infrastructure and terrain, among other things. Founded in 2015, Quantum has raised more than $200 million, per Crunchbase. Billionaire and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel is one of the investors to have pumped money into the company, taking part in a financing round alongside Project A and Sanno Capital in 2022. Speaking at the time, Thiel said: "The future of UAS is in neither software nor hardware alone, but in the intelligent synthesis of the two." "With that understanding, Quantum-Systems is a leap ahead of its competition," he added. Quantum's CEO Florian Seibel previously told Business Insider that the company planned to gain an edge on competitors by taking what he called a "Tesla approach." "You have to do everything from A to Z," he said. "You are a hardware company, you are a manufacturing company, you are a data service company. That makes it a very complex business case, but that also makes it very defendable." Drones have played a crucial role in shaping the conflict in Ukraine, providing both sides with standoff weapons and improved surveillance abilities. Their prominence on the battlefield has led Kyiv to significantly ramp up domestic production efforts and imports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in early 2024 the creation of a separate branch of the country's armed forces dedicated solely to uncrewed systems. Ukraine's defense ministry said in January that its armed forces would also get an additional UAH 2.5 billion (almost $60 million) a month to procure new drones, in a move designed to enable brigades to purchase the equipment they need directly. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A German drone manufacturer backed by Peter Thiel says it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025
German drone maker Quantum Systems says it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025. The company has supplied Ukraine with drones since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Billionaire Peter Thiel is one of the investors backing the startup. German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems has said it will double its production capacity in Ukraine in 2025. In a press release on Friday, the Peter Thiel-backed startup said the planned expansion reflected its "unwavering commitment" to ensure Kyiv gets the technology it needs amid its ongoing war with Russia. Quantum, which has already established two facilities in Ukraine, produces several uncrewed aerial systems used by Kyiv, including the "Vector" reconnaissance drone and the "Trinity" mapping drone. Since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has ordered hundreds of these systems from the company. Quantum's Vector drone is primarily used for target identification and surveillance. It can fly for up to 180 minutes, allows for real-time video streaming over a range of 35 kilometers (almost 22 miles), and has vertical take-off and landing capability, the company says. The "rucksack portable" drone weighs just 18 pounds and is equipped with on-board AI. The Munich-based company also produces the "Trinity Pro" and "Trinity Tactical," which are used for mapping and surveying. These drones can cover an area of 700 hectares in one flight and can fly for 90 minutes, Quantum says. They can use a variety of sensors to gather data, such as multi-spectral cameras and LiDAR scanners. They can be deployed to help with environmental and battle damage assessments, as well as surveying and mapping key infrastructure and terrain, among other things. Founded in 2015, Quantum has raised more than $200 million, per Crunchbase. Billionaire and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel is one of the investors to have pumped money into the company, taking part in a financing round alongside Project A and Sanno Capital in 2022. Speaking at the time, Thiel said: "The future of UAS is in neither software nor hardware alone, but in the intelligent synthesis of the two." "With that understanding, Quantum-Systems is a leap ahead of its competition," he added. Quantum's CEO Florian Seibel previously told Business Insider that the company planned to gain an edge on competitors by taking what he called a "Tesla approach." "You have to do everything from A to Z," he said. "You are a hardware company, you are a manufacturing company, you are a data service company. That makes it a very complex business case, but that also makes it very defendable." Drones have played a crucial role in shaping the conflict in Ukraine, providing both sides with standoff weapons and improved surveillance abilities. Their prominence on the battlefield has led Kyiv to significantly ramp up domestic production efforts and imports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in early 2024 the creation of a separate branch of the country's armed forces dedicated solely to uncrewed systems. Ukraine's defense ministry said in January that its armed forces would also get an additional UAH 2.5 billion (almost $60 million) a month to procure new drones, in a move designed to enable brigades to purchase the equipment they need directly. Read the original article on Business Insider
