Palantir has been uncomfortably close to the United States government as of late through numerous contracts with the military and immigration services, as well as an established relationship with the White House. What exactly is Palantir, and why are they so close with the U.S. government?
What is Palantir and What Do They Do?
Palantir Technologies was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and a group of fellow entrepreneurs. The company found its stride in post-9/11 America, where security concerns were at an all-time high.
The company received early financial backing from Q-Tel, a CIA-linked non-profit founded to invest in technology that equips intelligence services with the latest technology; therefore, most of its funding comes directly from contracts with the U.S. government.
“Human driven analysis of real-world data” is the self-described purpose of Palantir in their mission statement. On paper, their systems are designed to help governments, militaries, and hospitals combine and compare user datasets to aid decision-making.
Major conservative founder Peter Thiel financially supported various political candidates, including Republicans J.D. Vance and Blake Masters. Much of the controversy surrounding Palantir, however, stems from the technology it develops and the government agencies it works with.
The company mainly deals in analysis software and data collection and integration. The main customers have been intelligence agencies, local law enforcement, and a small number of private companies. Some applications for their product are counterterrorism and crime analysis, while facial recognition software and a massive amount of citizen data are tools at Palantir’s disposal.
From there, co-founder Alex Karp shaped the company’s public perception as it exists today, specifically as a Western-aligned, domestic security-focused firm.
Connections With The U.S. Government
Since its inception, Palintir has been heavily involved in pursuing U.S. government contracts—ranging from health databases all the way to immigration tracking software.
A clear divide forms between Palintir and other software firms: presenting itself as a consumer based company vs. one that aligns itself with the state.
One of the most discussed aspects of current Vice President J.D. Vance is his affiliation with Palantir founder Peter Thiel. According to Reuters, Thiel was an early backer of the Trump/Vance campaign, following up on his support for Vance’s 2022 Senate race.
While this may raise questions on its own, it becomes even more concerning when viewed against the company’s growth since Trump’s election.
Without a doubt, Palantir has seen significant growth even since the Trump administration’s focus on immigration and conflicts in the Middle East. This includes modernizing defense systems and domestic systems that use AI-tracking.
Statistically, Palantir is among the highest-performing S&P 500 stocks this decade. In 2025, their stock rose more than 70% following Trump optimism and announcements about federal contracts — notably a decade-long contract with the U.S. Army to meet warfare demands as well as 30 million in ICE contracts.
On a related note, stock is rising because Palantir is seen as a leader in the ever-growing AI marketplace. Especially in the field of military and self-defense, Wall Street has acknowledged this success, with PLRT trading around 136B, awarding the work done in governance, military applications, and AI.
New contracts have been established to coincide with the new conflicts the U.S. finds itself in, as well as the renewal of old agreements. For example, a 10-billion-dollar contract was negotiated not long before the U.S. initiated conflicts in Venezuela and Iran. From 2024 to 2025, Palantir’s revenue has increased by 56%.
While Palantir has been working with the U.S. government for about a decade, its business relationship will only continue to grow.
The Military
The newest in AI battlefield technology, specifically designed to analyze battlefield and drone footage. The project used to belong to Google, where employees quit over ethical concerns — namely that their work in AI would be used in a military context — leading Palantir to pick up the contract. The contract was recently extended, signaling a shift in the military’s view of this technology.
Via Reuters, Project Maven has gone from an experiment to something that the army deeply wants to integrate into its infrastructure. If anything, this shows that Palantir is willing to do things that other tech companies do not have the stomach for. While yes, one should see this as another sign that Palantir and the government are maybe getting too close to one another, there are other questions to be asked on top of this.
Will the lack of humanity in conflict cross the line into illegality and immorality? Is the army conducting so many operations that they need a system overhaul to handle the workload?
The U.S. Government awarded a $1 billion purchasing agreement to the company in February, making it easier to secure its products. The first contract under that agreement is to extend ImmigrationOS as a product into Spring 2027 — consolidating multiple future software and data contracts into a single deal.
In layman’s terms, the software is meant to combine data integration and operational efficiency to provide better reads for commanders.
While the government has always relied on distributors for its military, none have been as outwardly concerning as Palantir’s Alex Karp. To him, the company is simply a tool to defend “The West.” In fact, Palantir states it powers “AI-driven decisions” to “Factory Floors to the Front Lines.”
At some point, this rhetoric is no longer innovative or business-driven, but part of a larger ideological battle.
While the current U.S. administration continues to support and deal with Palantir despite growing government concern, some officials in other countries have drawn a line in the sand. According to AOL, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, struck down a deal between Palantir and the Metropolitan Police, potentially becoming largest deal in Palantir’s British policing.
There had been public backlash over the state’s use of Palantir because of its ties to Donald Trump, as well as its involvement with Israel. Specifically, the partnership between Israel and Palantir and the alleged use of AI face recognition software in Gaza.
While police officials claim it is stunting progress and blocking the force from having the tools it needs to enforce the law efficiently, a rift becomes apparent between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Despite ethical concerns, the U.S. continues to deal with Palantir. Other nations, even those we are allied with, are all hesitant to become further involved with the company.
Surveillance Under ICE
Palantir Technology is not only being deployed overseas, but, to many Americans’ dismay, is also being utilized domestically. Particularly for the purpose of curbing illegal immigration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Palantir scanners and databases have been used en masse in recent months.
The current human rights implications of this type of technology is concerning, and it might set a dangerous precedent regarding government surveillance and the collection of personal data.
ICE paid the company 30 million to make a product called “ImmigrationOS” to provide real-time visibility of self-deportation outside the United States. This program is supposed to help with tracking information related to cases and deportations.
Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE) also created a map of individuals marked for deportation — potentially inflating the government’s rights to monitor immigrants and collect data.
Palintir’s involvement in ICE raids questions their integrity and demands transparency. New oversight tools from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (overseeing counterterrorism and national security) provide information on how employees use Palantir software — essentially setting up alerts for any concerning behavior.
Palantir faces serious ethical risks rather than changing policy to align with, not just the public, but also its own employees. Not only in the deals they make and the kind of technology they create, but also in the writings and statements of their leaders.
The Philosophy of Palantir
Palantir has distinguished itself from many traditional Silicon Valley companies by openly emphasizing its role in national security and defense — embracing its lack of neutrality. Company leaders, including Alex Karp, have repeatedly framed Palantir’s mission as supporting Western governments and institutions, embracing a public identity centered on a strong Western society of security and state capacity.
It should be clear that Palantir is not a typical software company. Concerns surrounding the company are amplified by its involvement in government surveillance, immigration enforcement, and military operations.
Through its data analysis platforms, Palantir has worked with agencies such as ICE and has reportedly provided technology used in conflict zones, placing it at the center of debates over privacy, human rights, and the influence of private technology firms on public policy.
According to The Guardian, Alex Karp published a 22 point manifesto that some political figures have described as “the ramblings of a madman.”
To quote Karp’s document, “Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive.” There were some other claims within the manifesto — calls to end the “postwar neutering” of countries such as Germany and Japan, and advocacy for reinstatement of the draft as every democratic society needs “hard power” in order to thrive.
Karp also made some claims about the future of warfare, predicting that AI-powered automated weapons will become more prevalent, and concluded by dismissing his detractors and stating that he will advance technology no matter their opinion.
This does not seem like the typical mission statement of a CEO, but rather of someone who sees themselves as a prophet and an arbiter of how society will advance.
While some call this move narcissistic and self-aggrandizing, other aspects of the manifesto should be cause for greater concern. The fact that a company is completely rejecting commercial status and instead trying to place itself at the center of government and society is scary, and the fact that they are doing this and insinuating that other cultures are inferior — all the while helping the U.S. military conduct operations overseas — is terrifying.
Palintir is as prominent as it is controversial, both in the U.S. and abroad, because while at the forefront of AI and algorithms, it is also heavily intertwined with politics, immigration, the military, and surveillance.
Its supporters will claim that it is giving democracies the tools that they need to defend their way of life against authoritarian or hostile states. Its detractors, however, claim that it militarizes technology that should advance humanity, as well as facilitating inhumane acts in war and immigration enforcement.
One must ask oneself, is it worth it to have a private company so entangled with the American superpower’s government? Or has this become possible only under an administration that has drawn as much, if not more, criticism for human rights violations and ideological supremacy?
