Maven becomes the Pentagon's costliest AI programme
On 20 May 2025 the US Army awarded Palantir a 795 million dollar modification for Maven Smart System software licences, raising the contract ceiling to roughly 1.3 billion dollars through 2029.
Why it matters
Recognising objects in surveillance video stopped being a programme and became a procurement with a number, a price and a deadline. The atlas holds the moment Maven was founded; this is the moment it became the largest thing the Pentagon spends AI money on.
The modification, P00005 to contract W911QX-24-D-0012, was awarded on 20 May 2025 and announced on the 21st. The customer is Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, with an estimated completion date of 28 May 2029. The announcement states that work locations and funding will be determined with each order. It modifies the contract of May 2024, a 480 million dollar award for the Maven Smart System prototype, so that the ceiling now stands at roughly 1.3 billion dollars through 2029. A separate contract of 99.8 million dollars for user licences followed in September 2024. What is being bought: a system that uses AI to detect, tag and track objects or humans from surveillance imagery on its own. A department official explains the demand this way — combatant commands have increased their use of the system to command and control dynamic operations and activities in their theatres, and in response the Chief Digital and AI Office and the Army increased capacity.