Palantir hires China hawk Mike Gallagher

"Palantir Technologies has hired former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) to run its defense business, charged with identifying contract opportunities and guiding R&D.

Why it matters:

Gallagher is an outspoken critic of China, and will reinforce the company's pick-a-side mentality.

It's Gallagher's first job in the defense sector. He succeeds Doug Philippone, who built the unit and will stay on as an adviser.

Word of his hiring circulated first earlier this year, but the company did not confirm until now. He began work at Palantir in June.

Follow the money:

Palantir, once backed by the CIA's venture capital arm, is a software specialist that goes toe to toe with the Defense Department's hardware juggernauts.

Adding Gallagher could help it strengthen growth in its U.S. government contract bookings, which recently reached their highest levels since Q2 2022.

Palantir's stock is up over 250% since 2020.

What he's saying:

"In Palantir, you have a rare, leading technology company that is unapologetic in its defense of the West and its belief that America is a force for good in this world and worth defending against our enemies," Gallagher tells Axios, adding that private sector innovation can help prevent World War III."

"We need to marry both tech and hardware, bits and bending metal."

Behind the scenes:

Palantir CEO Alex Karp, who's known Gallagher for years, recently told the New York Times the U.S. will "very likely" fight a sprawling war with China, Russia and Iran, and that scaring "the crap out of your adversaries" is the right move.

Gallagher's history hews with Karp's ideologies: He served in the Marine Corps, led the House Select China Committee, helped introduce the bill to ban TikTok, chaired a cyber-and-innovation subcommittee, said Taiwan should be armed "to the teeth in the cyber domain," and supported billions in U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan."

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/22/palantir-hires-gallagher-defense