Palantir says neither it nor the US government can switch off NATO's Maven AI system

Palantir cannot switch off the artificial intelligence system used by NATO’s military headquarters, the company’s executive vice-president for the UK and Europe told Reuters on Wednesday, amid deepening concern over Europe’s dependence on US defence technology.

Louis Mosley said in a Brussels interview that neither Palantir nor the US government could reach into the Maven Smart System and disable it. “There are no kill switches. There’s no ability for Palantir or the US government to reach in and switch it off,” he said, adding that customers who bought the software were “in full operational control of that software”.

His remarks follow a row over Ukraine’s military-grade Starshield satellite service, which Kyiv reported last week had been restricted so that terminals stopped working on fast-moving platforms, hampering interceptor drones used to thwart Russian attacks. US and Ukrainian officials and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk offered conflicting explanations, while Ukrainian and European officials suspected a political motive, as the disruption came after US President Donald Trump demanded Ukraine stop hitting Russian oil refineries.

“What we have seen in the news over the past few days around Starlink is extremely concerning,” Mosley said.

Maven processes vast data from satellites, radars and other sensors to give officers a battlefield picture and speed up decision-making. NATO bought the system for its Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in 2025 and declared it had reached “full technical operational capability” in June, though Germany and France have not adopted it, citing concerns about relying on a US company.