Markets

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The global market for military technologies has been rapidly advancing in recent years. In the US, Big Tech and specialized defense firms like Palantir or Anduril are securing military contracts, private investment capital, and political influence at an impressive pace; in Europe, venture capital firms continue to increase their investments in defense tech startups year after year; and in China, under the ‘military-civil fusion’ doctrine, tech markets are increasingly merging with geopolitical and military ambitions. Consequently, the specific market mechanisms, corporate business models, and aggressive product marketing are playing an ever-increasing role in shaping how military technology is developed and deployed worldwide. Our project aims to understand the political-economic dynamics behind this trend and identify continuities and unique features in today’s defense markets and private-military relations.

Marijn Hoijtink, Jasper van der Kist, Laszlo Steinwärder

May 13, 2026

Article: The Rise of the Tech Oligarchy and its Military Entanglements - a Platform Approach

In their new open-access article for a forum on the ‘Tech Oligarchy’ in the journal Science as Culture, PLATFORM WARS’ Marijn Hoijtink, Jasper van der Kist, and Laszlo Steinwärder trace the historical and contemporary ties among major tech firms, their leading figures, and the U.S. military.

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Events

Lisbon, Portugal

Sep 1, 2026

Conference Section: Digital IR at the 19th EISA-PEC

Ghent, Belgium

Jun 11, 2026

Workshop: 'Rethinking the international - Methodological and Theoretical Innovations in IPS'

Utrecht, Netherlands

Jan 13, 2026

Lecture: Ukraine as a Laboratory for Algorithmic Warfare

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October 30, 2025

Article: Military demonstrations as digital spectacles - How virtual presentations of AI decision-support systems shape perceptions of war and security

This article, written by Robin Vanderborght from the University of Antwerp and Anna Nadibaidze from the University of Southern Denmark, analyzes the ‘virtual military demonstrations’ of defense tech firms and highlights how these influence perceptions of algorithmic warfare.

Op-Ed: Technologies That Kill and the Companies That Design Them

In this blog post for the Amsterdam Law Forum, PLATFORM WARS' Marijn Hoijtink and Martine Jaarsma explore how the design and development of military AI systems influence their compliance with international humanitarian law.

August 20, 2025

Roberto Gonzalez (San José State University) visits PLATFORM WARS

On 11 June 2025, the PLATFORM WARS project hosted a workshop with Roberto Gonzalez, Professor of Anthropology at San José State University.

PLATFORM WARS and RAW in the media: an overview of our public outreach in 2024

In light of the increasing automation and platformization of warfare and military decision-making, especially in the context of Ukraine and Gaza, the expertise of PLATFORM WARS and RAW researchers was high in demand last year, resulting in a series of interviews in newspapers, radio stations and podcasts.

Op-Ed: Platforms on the Frontline - The Rise of the Platform Model in Defense Tech

In a recent blog post for Opiniojuris, PLATFORM WARS' Marijn Hoijtink and Jasper van der Kist reflect on the growing importance of the platform model in defense tech and warfare, drawing analogies to other domains in which platform corporations have gained extraordinary market power in recent years.

Reflections on our 'Platforms on the Frontline' workshop

In the last week of January, the PLATFORM WARS project organized an interdisciplinary workshop focusing on different conceptualizations of ‘the platform’ and what they could add to the analysis of contemporary warfare.

PLATFORM WARS and RAW researchers comment on Google's drawback in military AI policy

In interviews with news outlets De Morgen, Radio1 and Trouw, Marijn Hoijtink and Jessica Dorsey reflect on Google’s departure from its commitment not to develop technology for weapon systems.

PLATFORM WARS is growing

The project welcomes three new PhD researchers who will conduct research on platform corporations' role in contemporary warfare from a variety of theoretical, conceptual and empirical perspectives.