Palantir chief executive Alex Karp told Nikkei, in an exclusive interview published on 2 November, that Japan could gain an edge in building an AI stack designed for exclusively defensive use, and he showed eagerness to supply AI systems to Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. Japan’s government is weighing AI for the forces’ command and control, with Palantir’s Maven Smart System and Anduril’s Lattice named as candidates, ZDNet Korea reported on 3 November, citing Nikkei.
Japan would be a market outside the US, where Palantir’s growth has been slower. Palantir’s earnings release, filed with the SEC on 2 November, puts third-quarter revenue at $2.313 billion and US revenue at $1.937 billion. That leaves $376 million from outside the US, up 26% from a year earlier, against 119% growth in the US, our arithmetic. Revenue from outside the US fell from 25.2% of the total to 16.3%.
Japan has not decided. Nikkei first reported in August that the government had begun considering US-made AI for command and control, and that it would work out the details for the year-end revision of three national security documents.
The key insight: Palantir’s revenue outside the US was $376 million in the third quarter, up 26% from a year earlier, while US revenue grew 119%, our arithmetic from its earnings release. Its chief executive told Nikkei he wants to supply AI to Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, whose command and control Japan’s government is weighing AI for.
Nikkei’s lede says Karp told the paper that Japan could gain the advantage in developing an AI stack, or product suite, for exclusively defensive use, and that he was keen to supply AI systems to the Self-Defense Forces. He also said private companies need to control and train AI to protect their intellectual property. The full article is behind Nikkei’s paywall; we read the lede.
Two Korean outlets, Newspim and Asia Economy, carried more of the interview on 3 November. In their accounts, Karp said it is not realistic, over the next five years, for any country other than the US and China to hold an entire AI stack at home. Japan, he said, has no choice but to use US-made AI while replacing it with its own systems over time.
Asia Economy reported that Karp said Palantir’s systems had been used in Ukraine and the Middle East, and that if the US, Europe and Japan fall behind on AI adoption, China would win in both commerce and defence. ZDNet Korea wrote that the interview took place in New York on 28 October. The quotes above are translated from Korean reports of a Japanese interview; we have not read Nikkei’s full text.
Palantir’s third-quarter revenue split between the US and the rest of the world. Outside-US revenue is total revenue minus US revenue as reported in Palantir’s Q3 2026 and Q3 2025 earnings releases (our arithmetic): $298 million (25%) a year ago, $376 million (16%) now. Palantir does not break out Japan.
What Tokyo Is Weighing
Nikkei reported on 4 August that the government had begun considering US-made AI systems for the command and control of Self-Defense Force units, to narrow the gap with a US military that is using AI to speed up decisions. It said the government expected to use several companies’ systems together to avoid relying on one, and named Palantir and Anduril as candidates.
The English Nikkei Asia version said Tokyo would deploy US tech “for quick implementation, with homegrown AI eyed for oversight”. Nikkei’s Japanese headline named Sakana AI, a Japanese startup, as a proposal for the core of that domestic layer.
ZDNet Korea described the two candidate systems. In its account, Maven Smart System analyses military data from satellites and drones to support target identification and operational decisions, and Lattice links sensors and unmanned systems for real-time situational awareness. It wrote that Japan is weighing using the two together.
Japan’s Own Defence AI Deals
Japanese industry is building its own stack in parallel. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Preferred Networks signed a capital and business alliance on 31 August and announced it on 16 September. MHI will “invest a total of 10 billion yen in PFN” through a third-party share allotment, subject to approval at PFN’s shareholder meeting, the companies said. The work covers mission-critical domains, “including social infrastructure and national security”.
On 2 September, NEC and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of understanding toward a defence partnership. They said they would collaborate “in areas such as operation plans, command and control, and unmanned assets”, with the aim of “establishing data and AI sovereignty”.
Palantir’s Position in Japan
Palantir already sells in Japan through a joint venture. Its 2025 annual report says it created “a jointly controlled entity in Japan with SOMPO Holdings, Inc.” in November 2019 and obtained a controlling interest in November 2022. It also lists a partnership with Fujitsu through Palantir Technologies Japan KK.
The same filing names a cost. Palantir says such arrangements “limit our ability to independently sell our platforms, provide certain services, engage certain customers, or compete in Japanese and Korean markets or related industry verticals”. Palantir’s releases do not break out revenue from Japan.
In the US, Maven passed 100,000 users. On Palantir’s 2 November earnings call, chief technology officer Shyam Sankar said Maven was “exceeding 100,000 users” and “is now available to all of the services”, as we reported in Palantir Filing: Net Margin Fell to 49% on a $118M Swing.
The Revenue Mix
Palantir’s release says US revenue “grew 119% year-over-year” to $1.937 billion, and total revenue “grew 96% year-over-year” to $2.313 billion. A year earlier, US revenue was $883 million of $1.181 billion.
Subtracting, revenue from outside the US was $298 million in the third quarter of 2025 and $376 million in the third quarter of 2026, our arithmetic. That is 26% growth. It is also 39% of the $953 million Palantir booked from the US government alone in the latest quarter.
The release does not split revenue outside the US into government and commercial customers. The release does not show how much of that $376 million comes from Japan.
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As we read the reports, Tokyo’s plan as Nikkei described it in August has two layers: US systems for quick implementation, and homegrown AI for oversight. Karp’s five-year remark, in the Korean accounts of the interview, describes the same sequence from the vendor’s side: use US-made AI first, then replace it with Japan’s own systems.
As we read Palantir’s filings, Japan is also a market where its own structure sets limits. Its 10-K says the arrangement with SOMPO limits its ability to sell its platforms independently in Japanese markets, and its earnings releases do not show revenue from Japan.
Palantir Technologies, Form 10-K for 2025, on its Japan and Korea joint ventures
“they also limit our ability to independently sell our platforms, provide certain services, engage certain customers, or compete in Japanese and Korean markets or related industry verticals”
Three Implications
FOR PALANTIR Revenue outside the US was $376 million in the third quarter, 16.3% of the total, down from 25.2% a year earlier, our arithmetic. Palantir does not break out Japan.
FOR JAPANESE INDUSTRY Mitsubishi Heavy Industries agreed to invest a total of 10 billion yen in Preferred Networks, subject to PFN shareholder approval, and signed a memorandum with NEC on operation plans, command and control and unmanned assets.
FOR TOKYO Nikkei reported that the government is working out the details for the year-end revision of three national security documents. No vendor, contract or budget has been announced.
The framework puts the mental model this way: “Your product stops being the thing companies buy and becomes the thing other systems assume exists.”
As we read it, Japan’s reported plan is a test of that model in a defence ministry. A command-and-control system sits where sensors, units and allies connect. Tokyo, in Nikkei’s account, wants several US systems for speed, with a domestic layer above them so that no single vendor becomes the layer everything else assumes. The framework was published in December 2025 and does not discuss Japan or defence.
What Is Not Established
Japan has not announced a decision, a contract, a budget or a vendor. Maven Smart System and Lattice are candidates in press reports; the government documents that would set the policy are due to be revised within the year, and we have not seen a draft.
Nikkei’s interview is paywalled; we read its lede. Karp’s five-year remark and his comments on Ukraine and the Middle East come from Korean reports of the interview, translated by us. ZDNet Korea’s account of the two candidates and of Sakana AI is its own and Nikkei’s reporting, not a government statement. Palantir does not disclose revenue from Japan.
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Karp told Nikkei he wants to supply AI to Japan’s Self-Defense Forces as Tokyo weighs Maven Smart System and Lattice for command and control. Palantir’s revenue outside the US was $376 million last quarter, up 26%, while US revenue grew 119%. Japan’s own industry is building a domestic layer, with MHI investing 10 billion yen in Preferred Networks.
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A note on sourcing. Karp’s interview is Nikkei’s, published on 2 November 2026; it is paywalled and we read its lede. Further remarks are from Newspim, Asia Economy and ZDNet Korea, translated from Korean by us. Japan’s deliberations are from Nikkei’s reports of 4 August and ZDNet Korea. Company deals are from the MHI-PFN and NEC-MHI releases. Revenue figures are from Palantir’s earnings releases; the outside-US split is our arithmetic. We did not contact Palantir, Anduril or Japan’s Ministry of Defense.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
