(Reuters) – Data analytics company Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: ) and defense company Anduril Industries are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for U.S. government work, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The consortium, which could announce deals with other tech groups as early as January, is expected to include SpaceX, OpenAI, independent shipbuilder Saronic and artificial intelligence data group Scale AI, the newspaper said, citing multiple people with knowledge of the matter. this issue.
“We are working together to provide a new generation of defense contractors,” a person involved in the group's development told the newspaper.
The Consortium will bring together a heft of Silicon Valley's most important companies and will use their products to provide the best way to provide the US government with high security and weapons, the newspaper added.
Palantir, Anduril, OpenAI, Scale AI and Saronic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. SpaceX was not immediately available for comment.
Reuters reported earlier this month that President-elect Donald Trump's US government executive order involving Elon Musk could lead to joint projects between major defense contractors and small technology firms in areas such as artificial intelligence, drones and submarines.
Musk, who has been named the leader of the government's work program for the next administration, has indicated that the Pentagon's spending and priorities will be the target of the push, spreading anxiety in defense heavyweights such as Boeing (NYSE 🙂 , Northrop Grumman (NYSE:), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:) and General Dynamics (NYSE:) .
Musk and smaller defense technology firms have been aligned in criticizing legacy defense systems like Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet while calling for mass production of low-cost AI drones, missiles and submarines.
Such views have given major defense contractors more incentive to partner with emerging defense technology players in these areas.