Groucho Marxism

The US tech giant Palantir Technologies recently won a contract with Coventry City Council to process data for its children’s services. This is one of many public contracts Palantir has secured in Britain recently, which include contracts with the NHS, Ministry of Defence, and police forces. Palantir also does work for the Israeli military, as well as with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the US. Donald Trump is apparently a big fan, as he wrote on his social media site, Truth Social: “Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven to have great war-fighting capabilities and equipment. Just ask our enemies!.” Thanks to its contract with the NHS, Palantir now has access to personal data of millions of UK citizens. But what is exactly is this company that nobody had even heard of until a few years ago?

Palantir Technologies is an American software company that specializes in big data analytics, intelligence gathering, and artificial intelligence integration. Founded in 2003 with early funding from the CIA, it provides operating systems for defence, healthcare, and commercial enterprises to consolidate fragmented datasets and uncover complex patterns. Palantir offers three flagship software products: Palantir Gotham was built for the military and allows users to connect disparate information to manage operations; Palantir Foundry functions as a central data operating system for large commercial and public enterprises; and Palantir AIP (Artificial Intelligence Platform) allows organizations to securely activate and control artificial intelligence algorithms on their own private networks.

Palantir has expanded significantly beyond its initial counter-terrorism and intelligence roots into several other sectors, particularly defence and healthcare. This has raised concerns from many observers. Human rights organizations and privacy advocates have voiced concerns over the company’s work with immigration enforcement and its technology being used in foreign military conflicts. Palantir has been criticized for its role in expanding government surveillance using artificial intelligence and facial recognition software. Critics have also questioned the ethics of integrating private tech platforms into sensitive national infrastructure like healthcare and defence. According to a former employee, the government can use Gotham to “centralize everything an agency knows about a person in one place.”

Concerns about Palantir can be broadly categorized into four types. First, there are concerns around data privacy, as both Gotham and Foundry are designed to ingest and synthesize massive, disparate databases, raising fears of ’Big Brother’ levels of surveillance. Second, there are concerns around the company’s involvement in controversial operations such as US ICE deportations, predictive policing initiatives, and targeted military operations. Third, there are concerns around state dependency, with the UK government’s heavy reliance on a US corporation to manage highly sensitive public sectors, such as the NHS and police forces. And fourth, there are concerns around the ideological stances of Palantir’s leadership, with co-founder Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp frequently promoting right-wing views.

The Israeli government began using Palantir software in 2014 and significantly scaled up its partnership during its genocide on Gaza. CEO Alex Karp has said: “I am proud that we are supporting Israel in every way we can.” The Israeli military has also used Palantir to plan further attacks in Lebanon and Gaza. Taking all of this into account, it is no exaggeration to say that Palantir is the most dangerous company in the world right now. It uses artificial intelligence to weaponize our data against us and to facilitate genocide. Palantir is a weapons company disguised as a software start-up; and it is everywhere. It is used by militaries, police forces, banks, hospitals, and even your local pharmacy or favourite fast-food place. This is truly dystopian stuff.

So how can Palantir be stopped? Trade unions have a crucial role to play here. By coming together and organizing, unions can force the NHS, councils, and other public bodies to scrap their contracts with Palantir. Pro-capitalist commentators argue that we need tech giants like Palantir to ‘modernize’ the state; but this is nonsense. There is nothing to stop the government from hiring teams of skilled tech workers to develop the technology in-house. The technology could then be publically owned and put under constant democratic scrutiny. Unfortunately, when it comes to private companies profiting from the NHS and other public services, Palantir is just the tip of the iceberg. That is why our public services must be nationalized and placed under democratic, public control.