Cleveland-Cliffs Signs Three-Year AI Deal With Palantir to Modernize Operations

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has entered a three-year partnership with Palantir Technologies to deploy artificial intelligence across its operations and commercial systems, the company said in a statement released April 28. The agreement places Palantir’s AI platform at the center of production planning, order entry, and operational workflows across the steelmaker’s footprint.

The deployment follows a pilot phase and expands the use of AI into core decision-making systems inside the company. Cleveland-Cliffs said the platform will integrate data across facilities, anticipate constraints, and coordinate activities in real time.

Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, said the company selected Palantir after evaluating its performance during the pilot. “After completing our pilot work with Palantir, it became clear they were the platform of choice to take our business into the future,” Goncalves said in the release. “What we have seen so far has been nothing short of a gamechanger.”

AI Moves Into Core Steelmaking Workflows

Cleveland-Cliffs said it is embedding AI directly into production planning and operational processes, where coordination across plants, raw materials, and customer demand requires constant adjustment. The company operates a vertically integrated system spanning iron ore mining, steel production, and downstream processing, which increases the complexity of scheduling and execution.

Credit: John Pana, cleveland.com

The AI system is designed to connect data from different parts of the operation and improve how decisions are made across facilities. This includes identifying potential bottlenecks earlier and aligning production with order requirements and logistics constraints.

Similar approaches are being deployed in other industries where companies are using AI to coordinate supply chains and operational workflows in real time, including retail and logistics environments.

Palantir’s platform is also used to integrate enterprise data systems and enable AI-driven decision-making across organizations.

Partnership Signals Broader Industrial AI Adoption

The agreement reflects a broader push by Cleveland-Cliffs to modernize its manufacturing systems using advanced software. The company said the partnership is part of an effort to improve productivity and performance across its operations and remain competitive with peers in the United States and internationally.

Palantir has been expanding its presence in commercial sectors beyond its origins in government and defense, including large enterprise deals across infrastructure and telecommunications. The Cleveland-Cliffs agreement adds a large-scale industrial deployment to that portfolio.

Cleveland-Cliffs employs about 25,000 people across the United States and Canada and focuses on value-added steel products for the automotive sector. Its operations span raw material extraction through finished steel production, creating multiple points where AI systems can influence planning and execution.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The company did not provide specific targets for cost savings or performance improvements tied to the deployment.