WASHINGTON: Maven AI targeting is facing scrutiny after officials involved in a Pentagon probe linked overreliance on the system to a U.S. strike that killed more than 150 people at an Iranian school.
Bloomberg reported that two Tomahawk missiles struck Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab on February 28; at least 123 children were among those killed.
Officials involved in the internal investigation described several contributing failures. They cited outdated intelligence, shortened target-review timelines and gaps in information showing that the site had changed from its earlier military use and operated openly as a school.
The officials said some U.S. Central Command personnel relied too heavily on Maven Smart System, made by Palantir Technologies. The AI-enabled platform combines more than 150 data inputs to support military planning and command decisions.
According to Bloomberg, some personnel expected Maven to identify stale intelligence or inconsistencies in the target data. Palantir said that expectation did not reflect the system’s responsibility.
A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that Palantir was not responsible for the underlying intelligence or for identifying deficiencies in that data. The company said there was no evidence its software caused the Minab strike.
Read: DoD Opens Inquiry Into Minab School Strike That Killed 156 Civilians
Palantir subsequently added features designed to re-examine underlying intelligence and flag potential target-disqualifying information or inconsistencies that human reviewers might miss, Bloomberg reported.
The Pentagon has not released its full investigation. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that the incident remained under investigation.
Separately, a United Nations fact-finding mission said it found reasonable grounds to believe the Minab strike and another U.S. attack in Lamerd constituted war crimes. The mission is investigative, and its findings are not criminal judgments.
