Do we like them?

Do we like Palantir?

Data analytics and AI software for governments, militaries and businesses; based in the US, with Denver as its listed HQ.

Our score: 3 out of 10. Very successful, but we wouldn't back it. Its ICE and surveillance work, privacy rows and founder-controlled voting leave too many ethical doubts for us.

Palantir is the data-and-AI software firm co-founded by Peter Thiel and run by Alex Karp. It sells to governments, defence bodies and businesses. It's now very big on the stock market: Q3 2026 revenue was $2.31bn, up 96% on the year, with about 4,500 staff.

The big controversy is ICE. Federal documents showed a $30m contract to build 'ImmigrationOS', and CNBC reported Palantir has long faced criticism over its ICE work. Karp's reply was that anti-ICE protesters should want more Palantir. The EFF argues its own human-rights policy should lead it to end the contract.

In Britain, Palantir won a £330m NHS data contract in 2023 and privacy campaigners objected. The Good Law Project said 417 of the contract's 586 pages were blanked out when it was published. Even so, the government has now said it will extend the deal while it looks for a UK alternative.

On governance, shareholders sued over the founders' dual-class voting setup. Palantir settled in 2022 by agreeing to extra voting protections. In October 2026 it also settled its suit against the London Mayor's office over a scrapped £50m police contract, with both sides withdrawing allegations.

Our score is 3. It's a strong business, but we weigh heavily the immigration-enforcement surveillance work and the repeated privacy concerns. We also note that the founders keep control of the voting.