They don’t want you to know. We do.
Why are we organizing against Palantir?
Palantir’s tech increasingly lies at the heart of the US government systems that enable mass surveillance and militarization at home and abroad. Founder Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp are tech oligarchs like Elon Musk who we need to take on in order to reclaim democracy and fight authoritarianism and algorithmic governance.
What are the ways to disrupt Palantir’s operations?
Protests in the streets and at their offices to raise public awareness of Palantir’s evil practices. Pushing public pension funds and endowments to divest from Palantir. Pressuring local governments to not sign contracts with Palantir. Applying pressure to congressional representatives to cut government contracts and not sign new ones.
How does Palantir make money?
Palantir has a sky-high valuation and price to earnings ratio, according to Forbes, and while they have been scaling commercial products recently, their business model benefits from getting extensive government contracts, according to Wired. The company’s intense lobbying apparatus and a revolving door between lobbyists and government help it to win these bids. [SOURCE]
Who is behind Palantir?
Palantir was co-founded in 2003 by a group of Silicon Valley insiders, most notably billionaire investor Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and early Facebook backer, is known for his far-right politics and deep belief in using technology to consolidate power, once writing that he no longer believed freedom and democracy were compatible.
Karp, who holds a PhD in philosophy, brands himself as a progressive, yet under his leadership, Palantir has built surveillance tools used by ICE, the Pentagon, police departments, and the Israeli military.
Despite their supposed ideological differences, both men have grown enormously wealthy from Palantir’s government contracts: Thiel’s net worth is estimated at $23.8 billion, while Karp was one of the highest-paid CEOs in America, raking in $6.8 billion in compensation last year. Together, they represent a dangerous alliance of tech power, political influence, and wealth. [SOURCE] [SOURCE]
What are the issues with Palantir’s deep government ties?
There’s a reason why the federal government’s technical systems and organizational structures aren’t run like a disruptive tech company: there needs to be transparency and accountability into the machinations of public office, and a deep emphasis on data privacy. Silos exist for a reason, they are important and protect us.
Thiel, Musk, and their tech bro buds are now using our tax dollars to dismantle these systems and replace them with privatized tools that the public has no transparency into. Expensive privatized solutions are less cost effective than developing in-house solutions and expertise, and there are massive privacy implications for the use of Palantir software in federal agencies. [SOURCE] [SOURCE]
Why is Palantir’s mass surveillance apparatus a concern?
Palantir centralizes power through harnessing our data. It is doing it with no transparency, no real regulation, and no real oversight. The company shamelessly profits off of our data by raking in our tax dollars. Palantir is crossing a dangerous line and stitching together information from multiple agencies, all without your permission. [SOURCE]
What is Palantir’s involvement with ICE?
Under the Obama administration, Palantir built the current ICE system, Investigative Case Management (ICM). This system pulls together personal and private information across various federal agencies and local city and state departments. From this, ICE is able to piece together details from financial spending, biometrics, employment, education, and more.
Palantir has been awarded a $30 million contract to build “ImmigrationOS” (ICE Immigration Lifecycle Operating System). The database will combine sensitive data obtained by DOGE, from across agencies like the IRS, SSA, DHS, and USCIS. From ITIN numbers to tax filings to immigration records, the government will use protected information to build a real-time map of individuals’ lives. [SOURCE] [SOURCE]
What is Palantir’s involvement with the Defense Department?
Through worldwide military and security contracts, Palantir’s business model relies on their relationships with governments – especially the US. The company’s roots run deep with ties to the Department of Defense, including tech and infrastructure development for the military. Alex Karp and Peter Thiel have both promoted making big tech synonymous with state and military power, integrating Silicon Valley with outfitting the government for war. In addition to influence in defense contracts, Thiel has played a key behind-the-scenes role in staffing both the first and second Trump administrations. Under CEO Alex Karp, Palantir has positioned itself as a cultural warrior for “the West” and US supremacy. [SOURCE]
What is Palantir’s involvement with health insurance companies?
Through a partnership with R1 RCM, which provides revenue cycle management services to 94 of the top 100 U.S. health systems, Palantir is supplying AI-driven tools designed to manage claim denials, with the explicit goal of protecting the corporate revenue. Palantir is rapidly growing its business in healthcare. [SOURCE]