Palantir Technologies continues to grow its presence across key sectors of the global economy, with its software now used by a vast range of clients including banks, hospitals, U.S. federal agencies, and the Israeli military. The company’s influence is expanding rapidly, bolstered by major government contracts, most notably from Washington.
“We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world,” said CEO Alex Karp at a recent client event in Palo Alto, California. In a rare appearance where AFP was the only media outlet present, Karp openly discussed the company’s role in military operations, particularly in Ukraine, where Palantir’s tools are used to assess potential targets using real-time data sources such as biometric inputs and intercepted communications.
“I’m super proud of… what we do to protect our soldiers… (using our AI) to kill our enemies and scare them, because they know they will be killed,” Karp added, embodying the company’s unapologetic defense-first stance.
Palantir’s financial ties to the U.S. government are deepening. In Q1 alone, it earned $373 million from federal contracts—a 45% increase year over year. Recent awards include a $30 million contract with ICE to develop deportation tracking systems, and an $800 million military investment, tied to Project Maven, for AI-based target recognition. These deals, coupled with a prior $480 million agreement, mark the company’s first billion-dollar defense contract.
Yet, CEO Karp insists that profits are not the company’s primary goal. “Financial results are not and will never be the ultimate measure of the value… of our business,” he stated in his May shareholder letter, referencing Saint Augustine, the Bible, and Richard Nixon.
Founded in 2003 with CIA support, Palantir has often straddled the line between innovation and controversy. Critics, including former employees, accuse the company of undermining democratic values while advancing surveillance capabilities. In May, 13 ex-staffers signed a public letter condemning its alignment with Trump-era policies and its cooperation with agencies like ICE and the Israeli government. “That’s what we do — if you don’t like it, you can leave,” one anonymous former employee said of internal dissent.
Despite backlash, Palantir staff such as Sasha Spivak and Jeremy David express pride in their mission. Clients like Citibank praise the platform’s ability to drastically reduce operational workloads—from tasks that once took nine days and 50 people to a matter of minutes.
Still, some clients are uneasy with Palantir’s militaristic language, even as they concede there’s no real competitor offering comparable capabilities.
