> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barbarosozturk.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Clarity vs. Palantir: Can Helsing Build Europe's Answer to Maven? - URL: https://barbarosozturk.com/blog/clarity-vs-palantir-can-helsing-build-europes-answer-to-maven/ - Published: 2026-11-13T19:19:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-13T19:19:14.000Z - Description: Helsing just launched Clarity, a military AI platform pitched as Europe's sovereign alternative to Palantir's Maven. Palantir has the scale, the contracts and NATO. Helsing has the timing. Here's how the two compare and why sovereignty may decide who wins in Europe. - Author: Barbaros - Tags: Geopolitics & Defence, Technology On November 11, German defence company Helsing launched Clarity. It's a military AI platform that turns drone, satellite and sensor data into targets, and Helsing is openly pitching it as Europe's alternative to Palantir's Maven. Palantir has dominated this market for years. I think Clarity is the first serious attempt to take a piece of it in Europe, and the timing couldn't be better for Helsing. It's still a long way from winning, though. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-138.png) ### What Helsing Launched Clarity pulls in sensor feeds, open-source material, written reports and the systems a military unit already uses. It identifies military assets and their positions, presents them to a human for review and [prepares the information a weapon needs](https://thenextweb.com/news/helsing-clarity-palantir-maven-rival-karp-democrat?ref=barbarosozturk.com). Helsing says it runs hundreds of specialised AI agents that share one ontology and evidence base. The models were trained on operational data, synthetic data and simulations. Operators approve every target and every handoff to a weapon, and each decision is logged with the name of the person who made it. The pitch is sovereignty. Clarity runs on infrastructure the customer owns, and Helsing says its software and models are [developed in Europe](https://kyivindependent.com/helsing-launches-european-alternative-to-palantirs-military-ai/?ref=barbarosozturk.com). Co-CEO Gundbert Scherf summed it up: "A capability this critical must be sovereign." Helsing has the money to back the pitch. It raised a [$1.8 billion Series E at an $18 billion valuation](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/13/defense-technology-startup-helsing-raises-1-8b-18b-valuation/?ref=barbarosozturk.com) in July, from investors including JPMorganChase, General Catalyst and Lightspeed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-139.png) ### What Palantir Already Has Palantir starts this race with a huge lead. NATO bought the [Maven Smart System](https://www.ncia.nato.int/newsroom/news/nato-acquires-aienabled-warfighting-system?ref=barbarosozturk.com) in March 2025, in a procurement NATO described as one of the fastest in its history, taking about six months. Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in May that Ukraine used Palantir's technology for intelligence analysis and for planning long-range strikes. The financials are on another level. In Q3 2026, Palantir's revenue grew 96% year on year to [$2.31 billion](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001321655/000132165526000045/a2026q3ex991pressrelease.htm?ref=barbarosozturk.com), with $1.13 billion in net income. It raised its full-year revenue guidance to about $8.53 billion. Palantir has also been doing this for more than two decades, and it was backed early by In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm. I've written about how the [Department of War is working with In-Q-Tel](https://barbarosozturk.com/blog/department-of-war-x-in-q-tel-how-this-partnership-boosts-us-defense-innovation-and-competitive-advantage/) to get commercial technology into the field, and Palantir is still the best example of that model working. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-140.png) ### Where Clarity Is Different The biggest difference is that Helsing builds the weapons too. Its portfolio includes the HX-2 strike drone, the SG-1 Fathom underwater drone and the CA-1 Europa autonomous combat jet. In February 2025, Helsing said it would produce [6,000 more HX-2 drones for Ukraine](https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/02/13/defense-tech-company-helsing-to-produce-6000-additional-strike-drones-for-ukraine/?ref=barbarosozturk.com). I've written about [autonomous underwater vehicles](https://barbarosozturk.com/blog/next-generation-extra-large-autonomous-underwater-vehicles-xlauvs-the-submarine-that-doesnt-need-humans/) replacing crewed submarines, and SG-1 is part of that same shift. That gives Helsing a full chain, from sensors to software to the weapon itself. Palantir is mostly a software company that connects to other companies' hardware. Helsing still says Clarity follows NATO standards and a modular open systems approach, so it can work with weapons from any manufacturer. That matters, because European militaries won't want to be locked into one supplier any more than they want to be locked into an American one. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-141.png) ### Why Europe Is Ready To Switch Europe has been moving away from Palantir for months. In June, France announced that its domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, would replace Palantir with [ChapsVision's ArgonOS](https://thenextweb.com/news/frances-intelligence-service-is-dropping-palantir-for-a-homegrown-rival?ref=barbarosozturk.com). Germany's domestic intelligence service also chose ChapsVision over Palantir for its data analysis. The UK is reviewing its £330 million NHS contract with Palantir. France and Germany have also pledged to build a European rival to Palantir. The argument for sovereignty got stronger this year. In June, Anthropic [suspended access](https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-access?ref=barbarosozturk.com) to its Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for almost three weeks to comply with U.S. export controls. That had nothing to do with Palantir. But it showed European governments that access to American AI can change because of a decision made in Washington. For targeting software, that's a risk no defence ministry wants to carry. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-142.png) ### Why Palantir Is Still The Favourite Clarity has a launch event and no track record yet. Helsing hasn't named a single customer for Clarity, and it hasn't said when any military will put it into service. Palantir's tools are already used inside NATO and were used in Ukraine. Switching is also harder than it sounds. France chose a domestic provider through a 2022 procurement, but no French tool matched Palantir's performance, which kept delaying the switch for years. And NATO interoperability works in Palantir's favour. If allied forces already share a picture in Maven, every national system has to plug into it anyway. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-143.png) ### The Data Question The real fight may be over data. Ukraine's Avengers Labs platform holds more than 5 million annotated battlefield frames, according to its Defence Ministry. Kyiv is opening that data to partners under controlled arrangements, including an AI partnership with Britain in August. Whoever trains on real combat data from the war in Ukraine will build better targeting models. That's where Helsing's years of work with Ukraine could matter more than any launch event. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/64/81/648165b7-979e-43dd-9c43-02101159f467/content/images/2026/11/image-144.png) ### Conclusion: Europe Will Run Two Stacks Palantir has the scale, the profits, NATO and a long head start. Helsing has European money, hardware, battlefield experience and the political wind behind it. I don't expect Clarity to replace Maven inside NATO any time soon. I do expect European governments to start buying a sovereign system for national operations, and Helsing just put itself at the front of that queue. **My Take:** Clarity doesn't need to beat Palantir everywhere to win, because Europe will likely run two stacks, with Maven for working alongside the US and a sovereign system for everything Europe wants to control itself. ## Sources Pages I opened for the facts in this post: - [The Next Web: Helsing launches Clarity, a European rival to Palantir's Maven](https://thenextweb.com/news/helsing-clarity-palantir-maven-rival-karp-democrat?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [Resilience Media: Helsing launches Clarity, a competitor to Palantir's Maven](https://resiliencemedia.co/helsing-launches-clarity-a-competitor-to-palantirs-maven/?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [Kyiv Independent: Helsing launches European alternative to Palantir's military AI](https://kyivindependent.com/helsing-launches-european-alternative-to-palantirs-military-ai/?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [SiliconANGLE: Helsing raises $1.8B at $18B valuation](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/13/defense-technology-startup-helsing-raises-1-8b-18b-valuation/?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [NCIA: NATO acquires AI-enabled warfighting system](https://www.ncia.nato.int/newsroom/news/nato-acquires-aienabled-warfighting-system?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [SEC: Palantir Q3 2026 earnings release](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001321655/000132165526000045/a2026q3ex991pressrelease.htm?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [Euromaidan Press: Helsing to produce 6,000 additional strike drones for Ukraine](https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/02/13/defense-tech-company-helsing-to-produce-6000-additional-strike-drones-for-ukraine/?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [The Next Web: France's intelligence service is dropping Palantir](https://thenextweb.com/news/frances-intelligence-service-is-dropping-palantir-for-a-homegrown-rival?ref=barbarosozturk.com) - [Anthropic: Statement on Fable and Mythos access](https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-access?ref=barbarosozturk.com)