04/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | FEB 4, 2026

18

Palantir CEO defends

SpaceX acquires xAI in deal to unify Musk’s empire

surveillance tech NEW YORK: Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp defended the firm’s surveillance technology as it reported a big jump in sales on Monday, saying it has safeguards to prevent government overreach, without mentioning US immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota that have drawn widespread protests. The data analytics company said revenue derived from the US government spiked 66% in the fourth quarter from the year-ago period to US$570 million. Total sales of US$1.41 billion exceeded analysts’ estimates and the firm anticipates a big jump in sales, in part due to government contracts in 2026. Shares in the firm jumped around 5% in extended trading and its Frankfurt-listed stock was up nearly 12% in thin trading early yesterday. Companies working with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are attracting more scrutiny as Americans have turned solidly against ICE’s aggressive tactics following the fatal shootings of two US citizens in separate incidents in January. The company won a contract last year with ICE to develop surveillance systems for immigration enforcement. Over the weekend, France’s CapGemini said it would sell a small US unit that has a contract with ICE after criticism from French lawmakers and others. In a post-earnings call, Karp said the company was “supporting in a critical manner, some of the most interesting, intricate, unusual operations that the US government has been involved in”, but did not specify which government programmes Palantir was engaged in. Denver-based Palantir has increasingly been marketing military-grade AI tools to businesses through its artificial intelligence platform that helps firms integrate and develop the technology. It has emerged as one of the best-performing AI stocks, with shares gaining 1,700% over the last three years. “It should indeed be uncontroversial that the single most effective means of guarding against incursions into our private lives is to invest in the development of a technical platform that makes possible constraints on government action and investigation through granular permissioning capabilities,” Karp said in a letter to shareholders. He said the company’s tech ensures that the “state and its agents can see only what ought to be seen, and functional audit logs, to ensnare both external and internal threats”. Still, its shares are down more than 15% so far this year as Wall Street questions Palantir’s sky-high valuation, with a 12-month-forward price-to-earnings ratio of 140.5. “Valuation question marks won’t disappear,” said eToro analyst Zavier Wong. “Palantir remains priced for perfection, which means it will need to continue executing in future quarters.” – Reuters

xAI, which operates the Grok chatbot, was valued at US$230 billion in a January funding round. The combined company would pool capital, computing resources and talent as Musk pursues his vision of placing data centers in space for AI computing. SpaceX is reportedly targeting a mid-June initial public offering that could raise as much as US$50 billion, according to US media. The company dominates the space launch market with its reusable rockets and owns the largest satellite constellation through Starlink. Musk had previously opposed an IPO for SpaceX because he had not enjoyed the required scrutiny of publicly traded Tesla. He also argued that the market’s desire for financial returns was at odds with his ultimate goal of settling Mars. But the company’s latest priorities will require significant investment. These include developing Starship, the largest rocket ever built, for missions to the Moon and Mars. – AFP

power in space to meet growing electricity demands for AI computing. Musk said those needs cannot be met on Earth “without imposing hardship on communities and the environment”. “By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will transform our ability to scale compute,” he wrote in the announcement. SpaceX aims to launch one million satellites operating as data centres using its Starship rocket, which the company said will soon achieve launch rates of one flight per hour carrying 200 tons of payload. The announcement did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition or provide a timeline for initial satellite deployments. According to Bloomberg, the combined company would have a valuation of US$1.25 trillion. The deal further intertwines Musk’s sprawling business empire, which already includes carmaker Tesla and social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Musk merged X with xAI after acquiring Twitter in late 2022.

o Combined company to pool resources to build extraterrestrial data centres

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has taken over his artificial intelligence company xAI in a merger aimed at deploying space-based data centres, a statement said on Monday. The acquisition combines SpaceX’s rocket capabilities with xAI’s technology to create what Musk in the statement called “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth”. The merger comes as funding for the AI buildout embraced by big tech companies begins to show signs of tension. Musk said SpaceX plans to launch a constellation of satellites that would function as orbital data centres, harnessing solar

Musk and Shivon Zilis, a venture capitalist, arrive to attend the wedding of Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, and Erin Elmore, the Department of State director of art in embassies, at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. – AFPPIC

Disney earnings boosted by theme parks as CEO handover nears NEW YORK: The Walt Disney Company on Monday reported quarterly earnings showing that streaming services gained momentum and theme-park revenue hit record levels, but the company warned of a possible slowdown in the United States. Net profit reached US$2.48 billion (RM9.8 billion), down 6% with attendance up 1% and per capita spending up 4%. Cruises performed strongly, thanks to an increase in passenger numbers and the addition of a new ship, the Disney Destiny, the seventh in the group’s fleet. compared to the previous year, according to the US Department of Commerce. The country has seen eight consecutive months of decline. Operating income for the

hopes for its slate of upcoming movies, including a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada , The Mandalorian and Grogu , Toy Story 5 , and a live-action Moana . Iger is expected to announce his plans to step aside as CEO by the end of the year as early as this week, according to reports. In a recent public filing, Disney said internal candidates are currently being mentored by Iger and receiving guidance from external coaches. The head of the highly profitable parks and cruises unit, Josh D’Amaro, is a leading candidate to replace Iger. – AFP

35% to US$1.1 billion, as higher programming and marketing costs offset the gains from blockbuster theatrical releases including Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Zootopia 2 notably became the highest-grossing foreign film of all time in China, where the franchise is an important driver of attendance at Shanghai Disneyland, the company said. “We are pleased with the start to our fiscal year, and our achievements reflect the tremendous progress we’ve made,” CEO Bob Iger said in the statement. Iger said the company had high

entertainment giant’s Disney+ and Hulu streaming services grew 72% from the same quarter a year ago to US$450 million, well above expectations. Like Netflix, Disney no longer gives subscriber numbers for its streaming platforms, but the boost in revenue is largely attributed to a hike in prices. The Entertainment segment overall saw operating income plunge

Disney nevertheless warned that operating income for the parks and cruises division could see “modest” growth during the current quarter, due in particular to unfavourable factors, including headwinds in demand from foreign tourists at US parks. The number of foreign visitors to the United States fell by 2.5% in 2025

year-over-year, according to a statement, with the Experiences division – Disney’s theme parks and resorts – delivering record quarterly revenue of US$10 billion. US parks, including Disney World, showed 8% operating income growth for the quarter that ended Dec 31,