Dov Baum/AFSC
What is Palantir?
Palantir is the most dangerous tech company you may not have heard of. It uses artificial intelligence to weaponize our data against us. Built with CIA funding to support the U.S. “war on terror,” Palantir is a weapons company disguised as a software start-up. Now it helps Israel plan its military operations and powers ICE’s deportation machine.
And it is everywhere. Palantir is used by militaries, police forces, banks, hospitals, and even your local pharmacy or favorite fast-food place. This technology is designed to help governments track and target individuals. It is killing people abroad and can be weaponized against everyone. That’s why it must be stopped.
What does Palantir actually do?
Palantir vacuums up massive amounts of data collected by governments and corporations. Palantir’s AI algorithm then combines all this data into a single, gigantic dataset and looks for patterns that are hard to see.
For example, it might find the location of someone who overstayed their visa for ICE. Immigration enforcement uses Palantir to track our known addresses, phone numbers, tax records, driving records, credit history, immigration history, health data, and social media presence all in one place. Palantir’s tools have fueled some of the largest raids on immigrant communities in ICE’s history.
How does Palantir support genocide and war?
The Israeli government began using Palantir software in 2014 and significantly scaled up its partnership during its genocide on Gaza, which began in 2023. Palantir CEO Alex Karp has said, “I am proud that we are supporting Israel in every way we can.” The Israeli military has used Palantir technology to plan attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.
Palantir also works closely with the U.S. military. According to the CEO, “Our weapons software is in every combat situation I'm aware of.” Palantir executive Shyam Sankar has said that Palantir’s work for the Pentagon is “this generation's Manhattan Project,” referring to the World War II program that developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Who is Peter Thiel?
Peter Thiel is a central co-founder of Palantir. He is a billionaire venture capitalist, conservative libertarian, and an early investor in Facebook who made much of his money from founding PayPal. According to Theil, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
What is the Trump administration’s relationship with Palantir?
Palantir’s stock skyrocketed when Donald Trump won the 2024 election. In Trump’s second term, Palantir and other Thiel projects have at least 17 current or former employees working at the highest levels of the administration. That includes Vice President JD Vance, who was a former employee of Thiel. Palantir’s leadership are major funders for MAGA candidates, and the company also donated to Trump’s White House Ballroom.
How can we stop Palantir?
AFSC has joined a collective of immigrant rights groups, Palestine solidarity organizations, environmental justice advocates, labor unions, and many others working to hold Palantir accountable and stop its expansion into our lives. You can join us by finding or organizing a local group to pressure our universities, hospitals, and other institutions to cut all ties to Palantir.
Visit our Purge Palantir campaign page to:
- Contact the leadership of hospitals, universities, and other corporations using Palantir to urge them to divest from the company.
- Find a map of Palantir offices, some of its corporate clients, and elected officials who have received money from Palantir. Use it to find where the company is in your community and plan an action to challenge it.
- Are you a health care worker? You can join organized nurses and doctors across the U.S. pushing the surveillance company out of our hospitals.
Learn more about the company and join the growing campaign to stand up to Palantir.