Palantir has long been one of the most inscrutable companies in Silicon Valley. Originally developed to provide military intelligence for the United States and its allies, it’s now used by public- and private-sector organizations across the world. Its ability to compile data from hundreds of sources and develop artificial intelligence-powered insights has helped government and business leaders improve their operations and make more-informed decisions.
What Is Palantir?
Palantir is a tech company that develops data analytics software that can integrate data and insights for data-backed decision-making. While it’s best known for its work in national security, the company has also assisted governments in vaccine distribution and identifying tax fraud. Its software is now used by a mix of government and commercial clients in more than 40 industries, including healthcare, finance and manufacturing.
With billions of dollars in government contracts, Palantir has helped stop terrorist attacks, plan top-secret CIA missions and manage vaccine distribution. It has drawn criticism, though, for aiding immigration officials in identifying and locating undocumented immigrants. And as its footprint expands into more government agencies, some privacy watchdogs have warned of the software’s potential to become a government surveillance tool.
In this article, we’ll trace Palantir’s evolution from a military intelligence startup to one of the most valuable tech companies in the United States. We’ll also take a closer look at Palantir’s products, customer use cases and how the company has shaped its reputation.
What Is Palantir?
Palantir was founded in 2003 by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel alongside Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen. As of June 2025, Karp is the CEO of the company, and Cohen is the president of the company.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Palantir’s cofounders hoped to bolster the United States’ counter-terrorism efforts with military intelligence data while preserving civil liberties using the fraud detection technologies developed at PayPal, Thiel’s former company.
“We were very frustrated watching the government waste billions of dollars on technology that was way behind Silicon Valley and was not protecting civil liberties,” Lonsdale said in a blog post.
In addition to funding from Thiel’s venture capital firm, Palantir raised $2 million in funding from In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investment arm. In-Q-Tel’s investment helped Palantir make in-roads within the defense and counter-terrorism communities. It took some time, but troops in Iraq and Afghanistan started using Palantir to avoid ambushes and roadside bombs.
Palantir has enabled counter-terrorism experts and special forces to “neutralize thousands of adversaries (including infamous ones) and prevent dozens of attacks on the United States,” Lonsdale said. Karp told The New York Times that “Western civilization has rested on our somewhat small shoulders a couple of times.”
The company expanded into the commercial sector in 2009 when JPMorgan Chase bought its software to detect fraud. Palantir, which was not yet profitable, went public in 2020 through a direct listing, a somewhat unorthodox mechanism in which existing shareholders sell their stock to new shareholders. After Palantir went public, its commercial business expanded to more than 40 industries. Its enterprise business now accounts for half of the company’s revenue.
Palantir’s Products and Platforms
Palantir’s two flagship platforms are Gotham and Foundry, but its software tools Apollo and Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) are also growing in popularity. In addition to these four products, Palantir has also developed custom software solutions to meet the needs of specific clients and industries.
Palantir Gotham
Palantir Gotham is used by defense, intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the United States and other allied countries. The platform offers real-time intelligence that can help military officials make more informed decisions. In a video, the company illustrates how Gotham could hypothetically help U.S. intelligence officials thwart a Chinese blockade of Taiwan. When Gotham’s AI model detects increased naval activity, analysts use the software to access additional satellite imagery, predict the potential route of a Chinese warship and detect the ship’s size, speed and weapon systems. Gotham then outlines several potential actions, assessing the benefits and risks of each strategy.
Palantir Foundry
Palantir Foundry is used by commercial clients in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and financial services. After integrating data from a client’s existing data lakes and warehouses, an operational layer known as Palantir Ontology creates a digital twin of the organization that connects digital assets to real-world assets like facilities, equipment and products. This allows the software to run simulations, automate processes and build custom applications. It also captures the decisions of end users, creating a continuous feedback loop between an organization’s operations and analytics.
Palantir Apollo
Palantir Apollo is a continuous software delivery system that allows Gotham and Foundry to be installed and updated remotely. Software companies can buy Apollo to autonomously deploy software and deliver updates. With Apollo, engineers can write code that meets the unique needs of each unique environment in the cloud, on premises or at the edge.
Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform
Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform helps organizations incorporate generative AI and other AI technologies into their operations. Organizations can use AIP to build apps, automate actions and develop AI agents.
How Palantir’s Technology Works
To label Palantir’s software as a data analytics dashboard would be an oversimplification. Palantir’s software uses AI to integrate numerous databases in various programming languages and security restrictions into a single platform. Through AI models, these platforms can analyze real-time data at scale, making it capable of solving complex problems. Its predictive analytics allow clients to forecast market demand, streamline operations or anticipate terrorist threats. The platform delivers data insights and recommendations in a visual interface that can be used by non-technical users.
Because it works in national security and other highly regulated industries, the platform is built with security and compliance in mind. Users can only access data if they have the required permissions, and an audit trail feature allows customers to see who accessed the data and what actions were taken. The company says it does not collect, store or sell personal data.
In short, Palantir’s software “productizes” much of the data integration and data analytics work that might otherwise cost “hundreds of millions” of dollars in IT services, Lonsdale said in a blog post.
Palantir’s Key Markets and Customers
Roughly half of Palantir’s revenue comes from government contracts, and the other half comes from commercial businesses.
In the government, the Department of Defense, CIA and Department of Homeland Security have used Gotham to monitor other countries, identify terrorist networks and plan drone offenses. Domestically, Palantir’s software has been used to stop tax fraud, deport undocumented migrants and manage the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In the commercial sector, Palantir Foundry has been used by enterprise clients in more than 40 industries, including healthcare, energy, manufacturing and financial services. Palantir has developed software to help investment bank Credit Suisse to identify illegal trading. Formula One racing team Scuderia Ferrari uses Foundry to synthesize data from various car systems to make time-sensitive maintenance decisions. Airbus, meanwhile, used Foundry to quadruple production of its new A350 jet. By merging 25 data silos and integrating more than 400 sets of data, the company was able to more quickly address production mistakes, according to The New York Times.
Palantir in the News
Palantir’s software has created opportunities for a new level of intelligence for police, military operations and immigration officials, generating concerns about data privacy and government surveillance.
Data Privacy
Palantir continues to expand its reach in non-military agencies of the U.S. government, raising concerns about the potential to create a large government database. At least four federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, use Foundry, and the company has been in talks with the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education, according to The New York Times.
Democrats, privacy advocates and former Palantir employees fear the Trump administration could potentially merge federal databases to create detailed portraits of Americans, which it could weaponize against its critics. Trump has signed an executive order calling for federal agencies to share data and the Department of Government Efficiency has already sought hundreds of data points on Americans — everything from bank account numbers to medical records.
Immigration Enforcement
Palantir has developed software to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in identifying and tracking undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers. Amnesty International has condemned Palantir’s work in facilitating deportations, highlighting its role in mass workplace raids, family separations and targeting parents and caregivers who paid smugglers to bring their children across the border. In 2019, more than 200 Palantir employees signed a petition outlining their concerns about Palantir’s contract with ICE. The company’s work with ICE has inspired several protests over the years.
Predictive Policing
Palantir Gotham has also been used by police departments, raising concerns about civil rights violations, lack of police transparency and the perpetuation of systemic racial biases, as it disproportionately targeted people of color.
The New Orleans Police Department, for example, used Gotham to develop a database of people who are likely to be perpetrators or victims of gun violence. Police also used it to identify possible gang members — without revealing Gotham as the source of its information. The city, which was allowed to use the software for free, did not renew its contract with the company in 2018.
The Los Angeles Police Department also used Palantir’s software to identify chronic offenders and high-crime neighborhoods, both of which were targeted with additional policing. When police rely on AI-generated “threat scores,” they may be acting on inaccurate information, reinforcing systemic bias and violating individuals’ constitutional rights, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ideological Clashes With Silicon Valley
Palantir’s CEO has pushed back against his critics, arguing in his book that Silicon Valley CEOs’ aversion to “ideological confrontation” has stifled meaningful innovation that could address the western world’s most urgent challenges. In 2020, the company moved its headquarters from Palo Alto to Denver, citing an “increasing intolerance and monoculture” in Silicon Valley.
Karp, who has a law degree and a doctorate in neoclassical social theory, has been unabashed about his views on the superiority of the West, his disdain for anti-Israel protests and his support for the Trump administration’s cuts to government agencies. Unlike Thiel, a prominent Trump donor, Karp considers himself a progressive and supported former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Palantir do?
Palantir develops software platforms that can integrate data from numerous sources and provide AI-powered predictions and recommendations. Its ability to analyze diverse data sets at scale, combined with its security and compliance features, makes it an appealing product for organizations in complex, highly regulated industries.
Does the US military use Palantir?
Yes, Palantir’s software has been used across the Department of Defense, from the U.S. Army to the National Security Agency. It’s also used by the Department of Homeland Security, the CIA and the FBI.
Why is it called Palantir?
Palantir was named after a crystal ball-like object from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. The “seeing stone” allows someone to see events from the past or in another locale. Like the seeing stones, Palantir’s data analytics software uncovers valuable insights. At the same time, Thiel has said the company is wary of powerful information falling into the wrong hands, which happens in multiple instances in Tolkien’s books.
Is Palantir a government contractor or a tech company?
Palantir is both a government contractor and a tech company. Half of the company’s revenue comes from government contracts, and the other half comes from commercial clients in healthcare, manufacturing and many other industries.
