Pentagon probe: overreliance on Palantir's Maven AI helped cause Iran school strike that killed 123 children
A Bloomberg investigation into a Pentagon inquiry finds flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and overreliance on AI targeting software contributed to a February strike on a school in Minab, Iran.
What to know
- Pentagon investigators found flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and overreliance on AI, tied to Palantir's Maven targeting system, contributed to a February strike that destroyed a school in Minab, Iran, killing 123 children.
- The investigation was unreleased and surfaced through a Bloomberg exclusive; the report frames the strike as resulting from an accumulation of smaller failures rather than a single catastrophic decision.
- Online reaction overwhelmingly rejects the framing that AI is to blame, arguing human decision-makers — including Trump and Hegseth — bear responsibility for the strike.
- A commenter cites a separate claim that the UN has called the strike a war crime, and some question whether firings of relevant personnel before the war removed oversight that could have prevented it.
The dispute Whether the strike is best explained as an AI/process failure (as the Pentagon framing suggests) or as a deliberate, human-directed war crime for which officials should face removal or prosecution. · positions read across 352 posts and comments
Human leadership (Trump, Hegseth) is culpable and using AI as a scapegoat to dodge accountability.
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“There was a decision to go to war illegally without Congress declaring war. There was a conscious choice to select targets and gross neglect in that process. Trump and Hegseth are to blame”
maxpeck.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Palantir specifically deserves scrutiny and potential liability for building and supplying the AI system.
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“Can we charge the CEOs of Palantir with mass-infanticide? I think we should.”
witchofscots.eurosky.social · Bluesky ↗
The strike was an intentional war crime, not merely a technical or intelligence failure.
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“I'm pretty sure they just killed 123 children on purpose.”
radianthostility.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Pete Hegseth US Secretary of Defense
Donald Trump US PresidentPalantir Technologies Maker of the Maven AI targeting system used by the PentagonBen Bartenstein and Krishna Karra Bloomberg investigative reporters
How it unfolded 6 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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6
Story reaches wider audience via Hacker News, Palantir named in headlines
Gizmodo's framing naming Palantir directly gains renewed traction on Hacker News days after the initial Bloomberg report, keeping the story in circulation with continued public scrutiny of the AI vendor.
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"Some Pentagon personnel knew within hours that the United States had hit the school, and they described a cascade of preventable failures that included an overreliance on an AI tool built by # Palantir ." # USPol # Iran https:// gizmodo.com/pentagon-investiga…
2 more of the top 3 · 58 posts in this stretch
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Pentagon investigators found an AI targeting system built by Palantir put an Iranian elementary school on the day one target list. 2 Tomahawks. At least 123 children. Hegseth had already gutted the civilian harm teams by 90%. Centcom went from ten people to one. Nobody looked. @bloomberg.com broke
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Sometimes cars crash, but per car there were only a handful of casualties.Sometimes airplanes crash and per event there were many casualties, which makes it high profile.While car crashes are often analyzed amateurishly, and little to no attempt is made in exact accounting of responsibilities, for traffic participants X,Y (or Z) and very seldom in…
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- 1 day quiet
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Coverage details the strike as accumulation of missed opportunities
Further reporting on the Pentagon review describes the strike as resulting from a series of smaller failures rather than one catastrophic decision, identifying multiple missed opportunities to prevent it.
“The strike didn't result from a single catastrophic decision but an accumulation of smaller ones, they said, and their review has identified a series of missed opportunities to prevent the disaster.”
— Bloomberg -
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“.. The strike didn’t result from a single catastrophic decision but an accumulation of smaller ones, they said, and their review has identified a series of missed opportunities to prevent the disaster.” @bloomberg.com
2 more of the top 3 · 111 posts in this stretch
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SCOTUS doesn't (or isn't supposed to) write the law; and the way federal law is written, that's the only reasonable interpretation. (states often have their own obscenity laws though) If it's not a real identifiable minor, it's not against federal law; so, for example erotic art of 'Harry Potter' as a minor would be legal, but not of 'Daniel…
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https:// gizmodo.com/pentagon-investiga tors-say-overreliance-on-palantir-ai-tech-contributed-to-u-s-strike-that-killed-123-iranian-children-2000814477 The MAGA Ass hats are murdering innocent children in our name.
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- 1 day quiet
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Grossman says Bloomberg confirms his earlier Maven warning
Commentator Nicholas Grossman notes the Pentagon investigation confirms concerns he raised in April about the Maven AI targeting system relying on outdated information.
“When the US bombed an Iranian school, killing over 100 kids, it involved over-reliance on an AI targeting system called "Maven," which based it on outdated information.”
— nicholasgrossman.bsky.social -
#BREAKING: Pentagon blames flawed intel and AI for strike that killed at least 123 Iranian children.
2 more of the top 3 · 121 posts in this stretch
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BLOOMBERG: “Flawed intelligence, outdated imagery, overreliance on A.I. contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab… Within hours Pentagon personnel knew 🇺🇸 was responsible…” 😳
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It appears AI being blamed for attack on school in Iran, as well: Bloomberg: "Inside Centcom, which conducted the US attack, some personnel relied too much on the artificial intelligence embedded in Maven Smart System, the officials said. " https://www. bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-ir…
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Reporting identifies Palantir's Maven system as the AI tool used
Techmeme and other summaries of the Bloomberg exclusive specify that overreliance on Palantir's Maven AI system was among the factors contributing to the strike.
“Someone in the chain of command is responsible for killing those children. "AI" isn't an excuse. We may not be able to hold the killers responsible today, but we'll keep trying until we can.”
— rudymadrox.bsky.social, Bluesky commenter · source -
Move fast and slaughter school girls. 🤬
2 more of the top 3 · 41 posts in this stretch
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150 civilians dead, 123 of them children. Palantir disclaims any responsibility for the use of their AI systems, but has allegedly built in new protections to prevent mistargeting. The White House claims it don't target civilians, they just rely on Palantir's technology to replace civilian review ...
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Someone in the chain of command is responsible for killing those children. “AI” isn’t an excuse. We may not be able to hold the killers responsible today, but we’ll keep trying until we can.
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Social media erupts, blames Trump, Hegseth and Palantir
Within hours of the Bloomberg report, commenters on Bluesky and elsewhere accused the administration of using AI as a scapegoat and demanded accountability for military and political leadership.
“There was a decision to go to war illegally without Congress declaring war. There was a conscious choice to select targets and gross neglect in that process. Trump and Hegseth are to blame…”
— maxpeck.bsky.social -
Well this is complete bullshit. Can't believe someone published this like there is no one to blame. There was a decision to go to war illegally without Congress declaring war. There was a conscious choice to select targets and gross neglect in that process. Trump and Hegseth are to blame
2 more of the top 3 · 16 posts in this stretch
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Of *course* Palantir is at the center of this. Of course.
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AI is the perfect solution for carpet bombing civilians while being able to redirect questions about your own responsibility for carpet bombing civilians.
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Bloomberg reveals Pentagon probe blames AI, flawed intel for strike
Bloomberg's Ben Bartenstein and Krishna Karra publish an investigation showing an unreleased Pentagon inquiry found flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and overreliance on AI contributed to the strike.
“Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to the disaster.”
— @BenBartenstein -
first by HN Best, 1d ago
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HUGE EXCLUSIVE from @bloomberg.com Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intel, outdated imagery & overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab 🎁
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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INVESTIGATION: Inside the US military “kill chain” that destroyed a school and killed 123 children in Iran. Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to the disaster. https://t.co/lwzbRo4uqd @business
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Huh. So, exactly what the critics said and the opposite of what the amateurs and quacks said. FDT. FPH. FGOP.
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background
US missile strike destroys school in Minab, Iran, killing 123 children — A February U.S. missile strike hit a school in Minab, Iran, killing 123 children in what is described as the worst incident of civilian harm from U.S. operations in decades.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Mastodon, 3d ago · also Gizmodo
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first by Bloomberg, 5d ago · also Bloomberg Politics
1 more headline
- Inside US Military ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School Bloomberg Politics · 5d ago
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first by Hindustan Times, 4d ago
2 more headlines
- AI use, faulty intel, dated imagery: The US ‘kill chain’ behind Iran school strike that killed 123 Hindustan Times · 3d ago
- Inside the U.S. 'kill chain' that destroyed an Iranian school Mastodon · 2d ago
and 4 smaller pieces
What people are saying 13 voices from 5 sites · best of 352 · verbatim
- Who specifically vouched for the flawed data and pushed the reliance on AI in the targeting decision?
- Did firing personnel responsible for oversight before the war remove checks that could have caught the error?
- Will any officials, military or Palantir executives, face formal accountability or charges?
- Yesterday
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"Inside Centcom, which conducted the US attack, some personnel relied too much on the artificial intelligence embedded in Maven Smart System, the officials said. Maven, which is made by Palantir Technologies Inc., allows users to view and coordinate complex military operations — from targeting to command and control — using AI-enabled software…
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Oh? And what contributed to the double tap?This is decision laundering with AI, plain and simple. Go into any sufficiently "patriotic" forum and you won't have trouble finding people defending the strike to "break IRGC officer's spirit" or similar.I say, as I always keep saying, that powerful people are just like regular people and believe all the…
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AI is already killing us. Previously this was just an Israeli thing, but now its spread to the world's largest military, which are controlled by some of the world's most stupid human brains Pentagon Investigators Say Overreliance on Palantir AI Tech Contributed to U.S. Strike That Killed 123 Iranian Children https:// gizmodo.com/pentagon-investiga…
- Sep 22
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Isn't the ratio of correct/incorrect targets in this offensive significantly better than historical average, for any aerial campaign waged by any country, ever? The US hit something like 13,000 targets so far in 2026. I's remarkable to hit so many targets at standoff distances and only get ~3 wrong, and this 1 being a school that was wrapped by an…
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"In the final days of February, the Trump administration demanded an overwhelming aerial assault. More than 1,000 Iranian targets were hit within the first 24 hours alone. That order compressed the time frame for finalizing targets, the officials said, instilling an urgency that — combined with gaps in underlying information about the site, cuts…
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> It found the U.S. “failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify” that the school was a military objective and that the failure “went beyond mere negligence.” The report said the United States “directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting…
- Sep 19
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Bloomberg: Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab, Iran.
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AI is good for repeating things that have already been done, because it has actual examples trained into it. Having current AI to do things that have no precedent, like plan an attack on Iran or create 'tariffs that eliminate trade deficits' is how we end up bombing schools and tariffing penguins on an uninhabited island.
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It’s not that AI shouldn’t be used. It can be a very useful tool. My son works in fraud detection and AI is a fantastic tool. But it never has the final say. A human always has to review the information before any action is taken. The people who give the final approval for action should be held accountable.
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Dude right. Ever single media outlet should be running the story: "WHAT THE FUCK WE ACCIDENTALLY KILLED 100+ KIDS CAUSE OF SHITTY AI FROM AN INEPT WHITE HOUSE?!?!?!" This is fucking bonkers, this wasn't a small mistake, this wasn't a tiny fuck up. We literally murdered a shit ton of children in cold bold and everything is like "Meh whatever war is…
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Generally yes because the system they used has been in place for close to 15 years. The algorithm has changed, but targeting systems using ML aren't new by any means. The process involves a human always providing the final analysis before giving authorization and it's clear that's where this one broke down. Either the person that authorized it got…
- Sep 18
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Ben Bartenstein and Krishna Karra's reporting in @bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-iran-school-attack/ My @foreignpolicymag article from April, which argues for keeping humans central to targeting decisions, rather than relying on AI systems like the one that picked an elementary school based on outdated information…
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HUGE from @BenBartenstein @k3blu3: Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intel, outdated imagery & overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab 🎁