Mihajlo Fedorov, Ukraine’s recently dismissed defence minister, and Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies, announced on Tuesday that they are establishing a joint defence-technology company. According to the announcement, the new firm aims to develop technologies that will strengthen Ukraine, assist its allies, and increase global security.
Background and motivation
Fedorov was removed from his post by President Volodymyr Zelensky in July. His dismissal provoked widespread protests; the former minister has since confirmed he will not return to government and will focus on several new projects, including creating a significant defence investment fund and serving as an adviser to the Italian defence ministry.
Palantir’s backing could bring substantial capital to the initiative: media reports say Karp’s support may translate into potentially billion-scale investments for Fedorov’s projects and the Ukrainian defence sector.
Palantir’s recent performance
Palantir reported a 93 percent year‑over‑year revenue growth in the most recent quarter. Its market capitalization exceeded $440 billion, a multiple of its value at the 2020 IPO. Roughly half of Palantir’s revenue continues to come from contracts with the U.S. government.
Prior collaborations and technologies
As minister, Fedorov gained recognition for supporting the Delta battlefield command system, which integrates drone imagery, radar feeds and field reports into a single interface to enable real‑time frontline monitoring and after‑action analysis. Dan Driscoll, the outgoing commander of U.S. Army forces, described the Ukrainian system as “absolutely incredible” in testimony to the U.S. Senate in May.
Palantir’s Maven Smart System is presented as an American counterpart to Delta, combining real‑time data and intelligence analysis while relying on an Anthropic AI model. Palantir’s technology is already used by more than half a dozen Ukrainian government bodies.
This year the Brave1 Dataroom — a joint project of the Ukrainian defence ministry and Palantir — launched on Palantir’s infrastructure, allowing Ukrainian companies to train AI models on real battlefield data, for example for target recognition against Shahed‑type drones.
The announcement and next steps
In the announcement video, Alex Karp said he has worked with Fedorov for five years and that the Ukrainians’ performance deeply inspired him. Press reports indicate Karp contacted Fedorov almost immediately after news of the minister’s dismissal emerged this summer and proposed a joint project.
Fedorov stressed in his Tuesday statement that although he will not rejoin the government, Ukraine remains his priority. The new international venture aims to develop technical solutions and broaden support for Ukraine and its partners in strengthening defence capabilities.
Tags: drone, artificial intelligence, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, defence industry, Palantir, investment, Russia–Ukraine war, Shahed drone
(This article was prepared with assistance from an AI tool; a journalist edited and verified the final content.)
