Can the vision of the investment industry be as precise as locating terrorists?
Palantir, a big data service company, invested in an electric car startup company called Ferrari's future ( Faraday Future ), with a total amount of US$25 million. As one of the conditions of the cooperation, Ferrari will use the data processing software services provided by Palantir in the future.
Palantir is the most mysterious software service company in the world, specializing in data mining. Its clients include the US Department of Defense, Customs and Border Defense, and most police units in the United States. In addition, large enterprises such as Morgan Stanley , Airbus, FCA, etc. are also their customers.
But these are later things. Initially, Palantir’s main client was the United States Intelligence System (USIC), including , the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and 18 agencies across multiple government units. All used information provided by Palantir.
One of the most popular stories that the company does not confirm or deny is that they used data analysis to predict the hiding place of bin Laden (Osama bin Laden) to help the United States kill the number one. Public enemy.
The low-key and mysterious Palantir was officially listed in September 2020. It adopted the same direct listing as Spotify and Slack, instead of the traditional IPO model. What's interesting is that on the day of listing, no one was there to ring the bell. Highlight its low-key style. Perhaps this style has made customers and investors more confident. After less than a year of listing, the stock price has doubled, allowing co-founder Peter Thiel to add another glorious deed.
This investment in Ferrari’s future is not through a press release.It was only written in the application documents they submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since Ferrari was only publicly listed last month, the news was dug up.
Although the two companies did not announce too many details, the two companies have signed a 4 to 6-year contract. Ferrari will use Palantir's software services in the future to process the large amounts of data they collect.
Ferrari will be listed on the SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition) in July 2021. In order to raise sufficient funds, a round of PIPE (Private Public Equity) was conducted before the listing, including Geely Auto and Palantir. Total Acquired 795 million US dollars and has completed the listing.
Interestingly, Palantir seems to have found that investing in its clients is a more effective way to close transactions. They also invested US$21 million in a robotics company to help the company go public, and the company also signed a contract to pay Palantir US$42 million to use its software services.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is paying attention to similar investment cases, but in comparison, Palantir investors may be more concerned about the future of Ferrari. Electric vehicles and autonomous driving will undoubtedly generate a huge amount of data. Obtaining these data is like digging a treasure for Palantir, but only if Ferrari actually builds the car in the future.
Ferrari’s first car in the future, the FF91 electric SUV, has been delayed again and again. At present, it seems that the goal of putting into production in July 2022 seems to be difficult to achieve. Ferrari’s founder "LeEco" Jia Yaoheng will pin his hopes on Became MIH's first customer on Hon Hai. It's like a hand of poker. The chips on the table are getting higher and higher. No one knows whether the cards are turned over to eat chicken or steal chicken.
Palantir's entry makes everything more dramatic, because this is a controversial company with massive data analysis capabilities that often step on the sideline of privacy, and the sensor inside and outside an electric car There are as many as dozens, and it may be easier than imagined to locate anyone in the future.
(source of the first image: Faraday Future)
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