U.S. Department of Agriculture orders $300 million worth of Palantir software CNBC thinks it's about the China threat

AI developer Palantir has signed a $300 million contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency will use the company's technology to manage farmland while geopolitical risks threaten global supply chains, CNBC reported. The agreement expands the AI developer's existing projects with the Agriculture Department and reflects Palantir's growing role within the U.S. government, the channel notes.

The contract continues the "One Farmer, One File" initiative under the National Farm Protection and Land Administration Modernization Plan, the agency said. The company will provide operational software that will enable the Department of Agriculture to better serve U.S. farmers and "field" government employees, and thereby protect the nation's food supply, according to a press release.

CNBC points out that the contract is most likely related to controlling China's purchases of farmland in the United States. In recent years, this issue has attracted the attention of Washington and foreign policy experts, the channel notes. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies recommended that the Department of Agriculture reform the disclosure requirements of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) to "prevent China and other hostile countries from using commercial land deals to gain a strategic advantage over the United States."

The contract with Palantir shows that the agency wants to tackle the problem using the company's digital tools, CNBC explains.

Shares of Palantir rose by 4.5% in trading on Wednesday. At the same time, since the beginning of the year the company's capitalization has decreased by 14% amid the so-called software apocalypse, which caused a sell-off of software manufacturers.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor