Unveiling the workings of Palantir: The key technology supporting government intelligence operations
Palantir's Expanding Government Contracts and Controversies
Palantir, a tech company founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale, and Stephen Cohen, has seen a significant growth in its government contracts over the years. The company's data analytics software, including Foundry and Gotham, is now used by various government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, CIA, and Department of Homeland Security.
The company's software, Foundry, is also utilised by commercial clients in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services. On the other hand, Palantir's Gotham is primarily used by defence, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies.
One of Palantir's most notable government contracts is its recent 10-year, up to $10 billion deal with the U.S. Army, consolidating 75 existing contracts into a streamlined deal. This contract, signed in 2025, boosts military operational efficiency and establishes Palantir as a major technology provider for U.S. defence.
However, the company's work with government agencies has sparked controversy. Amnesty International has criticised Palantir's role in facilitating deportations, citing its involvement in mass workplace raids, family separations, and targeting parents and caregivers who paid smugglers to bring their children across the border.
Furthermore, the potential for federal databases to be merged under the Trump administration has raised concerns among Democrats, privacy advocates, and former Palantir employees. Trump's executive order calling for federal agencies to share data and the Department of Government Efficiency's pursuit of hundreds of data points on Americans, including bank account numbers and medical records, has added fuel to these concerns.
In the past, Palantir's software, Gotham, has been used by the New Orleans Police Department to develop a database of people likely to be perpetrators or victims of gun violence, and to identify possible gang members without revealing Gotham as the source of its information. Similarly, the Los Angeles Police Department used Palantir's software to identify chronic offenders and high-crime neighborhoods, raising concerns about civil rights violations, lack of police transparency, and the perpetuation of systemic racial biases.
Despite these controversies, Palantir's CEO has defended the company, arguing that Silicon Valley CEOs' aversion to "ideological confrontation" has stifled meaningful innovation. The company has also expanded its commercial presence, with its software, Apollo, a continuous software delivery system, and Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which helps organizations incorporate generative AI and other AI technologies, being used in various industries.
Most recently, Palantir's software has been employed in managing the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. The company's software has proven to be a valuable tool in these unprecedented times, demonstrating its versatility and adaptability in addressing complex challenges.
In 2019, more than 200 Palantir employees signed a petition outlining their concerns about Palantir's contract with ICE, highlighting the ongoing internal debate within the company about its role in government contracts.
Palantir's early growth was backed by In-Q-Tel, a CIA-affiliated venture fund formed to accelerate adoption of innovative technology in U.S. national security, helping the company gain initial traction despite bureaucratic resistance to new procurement methods. This early support from the intelligence community has played a significant role in Palantir's trajectory, anchoring its growth and financial momentum.
As Palantir continues to expand its government contracts, concerns about privacy and civil rights violations persist. The company, however, remains a significant player in the tech industry, demonstrating the complex and often controversial intersection of technology, government, and society.
Data-and-cloud-computing platforms like Palantir's Foundry and Gotham continue to find usage in various domains, including technology, artificial-intelligence, government agencies, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, defense, intelligence, and law enforcement. (first sentence)
Palantir, with its software solutions, is not only heavily involved in government contracts but also expanding its commercial presence, using artificial intelligence to help organizations incorporate generative AI and other AI technologies. (second sentence)
