Palantir’s defense chief sees China threat to Taiwan over AI

Palantir defense chief Mike Gallagher has said that Taiwan’s importance to AI development has grown to the point that Chinese leader Xi Jinping may need to act on Beijing’s designs toward the island. | BLOOMBERG

Oct 29, 2026

Palantir Technologies’ head of defense Mike Gallagher is warning that advances in artificial intelligence capabilities have made it more compelling for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seize control of Taiwan, a chipmaking hub that has helped fuel the global AI boom.

Gallagher, a former Republican member of Congress who led a hawkish House committee focused on U.S. strategic competition with China, said on Wednesday that Taiwan’s importance to AI development has grown to the point that Xi may need to act on Beijing’s designs toward the island — especially in light of the competition between the U.S. and China to dominate the technology.

“The logic of Xi Jinping sacrificing enormously to take Taiwan is getting more compelling,” Gallagher said at a defense policy event in Indiana with Republican Sen. Jim Banks. “If we run away with AI, now is his moment to stop us from doing that, because he may not be able to catch up later on.”

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