Palantir says NATO AI system has no ‘kill switch’ after Starlink disruptions in Ukraine

US software company Palantir has sought to reassure European allies that its military AI system used by NATO has no “kill switch”.

Palantir’s executive vice president for the UK and Europe, Louis Mosley, told Reuters on Wednesday that neither the company nor the US could switch off the Maven Smart System AI platform used by NATO’s military headquarters and several European armed forces.

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

“But as concerns Palantir, I can provide categorical reassurance that where customers have bought our software, they are in full operational control of that software,” he said.

“There are no kill switches. There’s no ability for Palantir or the US government to reach in and switch it off.”

It follows recent disruptions to Ukraine’s Starlink and Starshield services, which raised alarm over the reliance on US tech firms.

On 13 October, Kyiv accused Washington of deliberately slowing Starshield, the SpaceX-operated military communications system that Ukrainian forces depend on at the front, as well as SpaceX’s civilian satellite network Starlink.

Reports later emerged that the White House had ordered Elon Musk’s SpaceX to limit Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the military-grade version of the Starlink satellite network.

Musk defended himself on X, and claimed that the “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”

To which US President Donald Trump replied, saying, “it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon. I don’t know if it was anybody. From what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”

The lack of clarity over who was responsible for the decision is one concern. But for European leaders, the prospect of the Trump administration using US technology that Europe has become so reliant upon as political leverage against its allies is even more alarming.

Palantir’s Maven system

NATO currently uses Palantir’s Maven system, which relies on AI to process large volumes of battlefield data from satellites, radar, drones and other sensors to speed up decision-making.

Palantir won a €480 million tender with NATO in 2025 to supply Maven to the alliance. It has since been deployed at NATO’s Allied Command Operations at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), and in June this year it achieved “full technical operational capability”.

Some European NATO members, including France and Germany, have opted out of Maven, alarmed at the possibility of a private company having so much control over battlefield operations.

“Allowing industry personnel access to national German datasets is out of the question," German Vice Admiral Thomas Daum said earlier this year.

France has meanwhile developed its own service, Arcadia, in an effort to build its own defence data ecosystem and maintain technological sovereignty.