Pentagon Review: Overreliance on Palantir's Maven AI Contributed to Minab School Strike That Killed at Least 123 Children

Officials cited by Bloomberg say an unreleased Pentagon review found that overreliance on Palantir's Maven Smart System contributed to a February US Tomahawk strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, that killed more than 150 people, including at least…

In February, two Tomahawk missiles struck Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, on its opening day, killing more than 150 people, including at least 123 children. Officials cited by Bloomberg said an unreleased Pentagon review found that overreliance on Palantir's Maven Smart System contributed to the strike: Maven recommended the site because stale records still labeled it an IRGC facility, the imagery used was outdated, and analyst notes were kept off the targeting database. Civilian-harm teams, previously cut by roughly 90% to fewer than 20 staff, did not review Minab before launch. A UN fact-finding mission concluded there were reasonable grounds to treat the strike as a war crime (an indiscriminate attack); Washington has not accepted responsibility, and Palantir says the government owns the underlying intelligence-data quality. The story gained traction on Hacker News with 177 points and 86 comments. The two source reports do not conflict: the second contains only the headline and engagement counts, adding no facts beyond the first.

• In February, two Tomahawk missiles hit Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, on the school's opening day.
• The strike killed more than 150 people, including at least 123 children.
• An unreleased Pentagon review, described by officials cited by Bloomberg, found overreliance on Palantir's Maven Smart System contributed to the strike.
• Maven recommended the site because stale records still labeled it an IRGC facility; imagery used was outdated.
• Analyst notes were kept off the targeting database and were not factored into the recommendation.
• Civilian-harm team staffing had been cut by roughly 90%, to fewer than 20 people, and no one on those teams reviewed Minab before launch.
• A UN fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds to treat the strike as a war crime, specifically an indiscriminate attack.
• Washington has not accepted responsibility for the strike.