Palantir hires China hawk Mike Gallagher
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Mike Gallagher, seen on Capitol Hill in 2023. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
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.
