[On the Scene] Palantir Lands in Hannam-dong... People Line Up for AI Company's "Hoodie Merch"

Pop-up store follows last year's Seongsu-dong opening
Merchandise sold under the "Sovereign AI" theme
South Korea ranks third in Palantir merchandise purchases
South Korean investors hold $4.584 billion in Palantir shares in custody

Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of October 22. Min Jae-ho, 31, was waiting in line outside the pop-up store of U.S. enterprise AI software company Palantir ahead of its official 10 a.m. opening. He was wearing a hoodie bearing the phrase “Sovereignty, Survive, Allure” (“Protect sovereignty and captivate people”) and holding a copy of Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s book The Technological Republic. “Palantir is criticized as a ruthless company, but I think it’s a company trying to solve real-world problems using AI,” Min said. An office worker identified only by the surname Kim, 25, also took a half-day off and visited the pop-up store for the second consecutive year. “I’ve been following Palantir’s moves in sovereign AI for five years,” Kim said. “I also like the merchandise, and I bought KRW 400,000 to 500,000 worth last year.”

A sculpture modeled after the Palantir logo stands at the center of a Palantir pop-up store in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 22nd. Reporter Lee Eunseo.

After opening a pop-up store last year in Seongsu-dong, a popular destination for young people, Palantir has opened one this year in Hannam-dong. The store, which will operate for two days starting October 22, is showcasing fall and winter merchandise under the theme of “Sovereign AI.” The company, which supplies data analytics and AI platforms to businesses and government agencies, is selling clothing directly to consumers.

A sculpture modeled on the Palantir logo stood in the center of the store. Hip-hop songs by American rapper Nas played from the DJ booth, while a variety of merchandise was displayed in the showroom, which was filled with thick fog. Visitors could try on or buy 15 types of merchandise in the sales area. Hoodies featuring “Sovereign AI” and the “Sovereign AI Loop” that enables it drew attention. Other T-shirts carried Palantir’s core philosophy: “Sovereign AI is not a model. It is a system.”

The pop-up store is seen as a branding strategy to turn interest among South Korean investors, built through stock investing, into merchandise purchases and voluntary promotion. Instead of enterprise software that ordinary consumers find difficult to access, the company is using clothing and hats to introduce its technology and philosophy. Palantir has a sizable fan base in South Korea, largely made up of investors. According to the Korea Securities Depository, as of October 19, South Korean investors held approximately $4.584 billion worth of Palantir shares in custody, ranking eighth among U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds held by South Korean investors.

“South Korea is the third-largest customer country for Palantir merchandise worldwide,” said Chad Walquist, Palantir’s head of AI architecture, who attended the event. “South Korean fans buy a lot of our merchandise, and individual investors are also very interested in Palantir.”

A hoodie reading "Sovereign Palantir" is on display at a Palantir pop-up store in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 22nd. Photo by Lee Eunseo.

The theme of the pop-up store is closely connected to Palantir’s expanding sovereign AI business. The company is emphasizing the message, “Own the intelligence your organization builds.” This means that organizations should retain control over the operational know-how, data, and decision-making systems they accumulate as they use AI.

Palantir expanded its partnership with Nvidia in September, giving more concrete form to its sovereign AI business. The approach combines Nvidia’s Nemotron AI models with Palantir’s Ontology and AI platforms for use in supply chain management. Organizations can use AI while retaining control over their data and models in environments suited to their operational requirements, including their own facilities or the cloud. Palantir is also working with AI infrastructure companies Nebius and Armada to build the infrastructure needed for sovereign AI.

“From the perspective of AI sovereignty, South Korea focuses on important industries such as telecommunications, shipbuilding, and semiconductors, and it has the capabilities to match,” said Akshay Krishnaswamy, a principal architect at Palantir. “South Korea also has many technically skilled people, making it a strategically important market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.