Technology & OSINT — 2026-03-23

Pentagon Locks Palantir Maven AI Into Permanent Military Targeting Program of Record

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg signed a March 9 directive formalizing Palantir's Maven Smart System as an official DOD program of record, ensuring stable long-term funding through the fiscal year. Maven functions as the primary AI operating system for the US military, ingesting satellite imagery, drone feeds, radar data, and intelligence reports to flag targets in near real time. The system reportedly identified 1,000+ targets within the first hours of Operation Epic Fury and has supported thousands of subsequent strikes. Maven currently relies on Anthropic's Claude model for data analysis — creating a technical dependency the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation of Anthropic complicates significantly.

Analysis
The prior brief tracked Maven's 8,000+ targets in 24 days and the transition from NGA to CDAO oversight. Formalizing Maven as a program of record while its primary AI component (Claude) is under supply chain risk designation creates an unprecedented procurement contradiction — the Pentagon is simultaneously institutionalizing and blacklisting components of the same weapons system. Monday's court hearing could force a resolution.

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Pentagon reportedly adopts Palantir as main AI system - Semafor