AI and the government

Written By H. Pike Oliver

I asked Microsoft’s Copilot AI bot to describe Palantir, and here is what I received.

Palantir Technologies Inc. is a public American company specializing in big data analytics software platforms. It was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp. The company's name is derived from The Lord of the Rings where the magical palantíri were "seeing-stones," described as indestructible balls of crystal used for communication and to see events in other parts of the world.

Palantir is best known for three projects: Palantir Gotham, Palantir Apollo, and Palantir Foundry. Palantir Gotham is used by counter-terrorism analysts at offices in the United States Intelligence Community (USIC) and the United States Department of Defense. Palantir Apollo is a platform that facilitates continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) across all environments. Palantir Foundry is used by corporate clients such as Morgan Stanley, Merck KGaA, Airbus, Wejo, Lilium, PG&E and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Palantir believes institutions can solve hard problems and improve the world with good data and the right software. With Palantir, investigators are: uncovering human trafficking rings, finding exploited children, and unraveling complex financial crimes. 

Humanitarian response organizations are directing resources more effectively to communities affected by natural disasters. Prosecutors are building more robust cases against insider traders. Public health officials are tracking and containing the spread of deadly diseases.

Now, please look at this video presentation by U.S. Army General Gustave F. Perna (Retired) about how Palantir helped with the logistics of delivering the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Then please read this opinion piece by Josh Tyrangiel of the Washington Post.

H. Pike Oliver

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s.

As the founder and sole proprietor of URBANEXUS, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development and natural lands management. He is also an affiliate instructor at the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.

Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Oliver is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.

https://urbanexus.com
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