Palantir’s data analysis software is known as a military intelligence tool. But as the company branches out in the government and corporate America, let's take a closer look at its technology.
Summary: Palantir, known for its origins in military intelligence, now supplies AI-powered data analytics tools to a mix of government and commercial clients. Its work has helped customers improve decision-making but has also sparked privacy concerns over its role in surveillance, immigration enforcement and policing.
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.
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.
Major Milestones for Palantir
Palantir has played a central role in government intelligence, defense logistics and commercial analytics since its founding. The timeline below highlights major developments that illustrate how the company has expanded its government contracts, enhanced its AI platform and influenced public sector technology strategy.
Trump Administration Revives Immigration Tech Contracts (July 2025)
The Trump administration signaled renewed interest in expanding Palantir’s role in immigration enforcement, revisiting programs previously paused under the Biden administration. Trump had reopened negotiations with Palantir for its software to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. The move echoes earlier deployments of Palantir’s Gotham platform for tracking undocumented immigrants and drew renewed scrutiny from civil liberties groups.
U.S. Army TITAN Contract Win (March 2024)
The U.S. Army awarded Palantir a $178 million contract to develop TITAN (Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node), an AI-powered battlefield intelligence system. This contract marked a milestone in military AI deployment, enabling real-time data fusion from multiple sensors for target acquisition and situational awareness.
Palantir AIP Launch (April 2023)
Palantir launched its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), a framework designed to integrate large language models into secure, sensitive environments for commercial and government clients. AIP enables controlled deployment of models like GPT-4o on classified systems, offering auditability, data masking and chain-of-thought reasoning.
Company IPO via Direct Listing (September 2020)
Palantir went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PLTR via a direct listing, closing its first day at a valuation near $21 billion. The move provided investors transparency into its government-heavy revenue model and long-term contracts, setting the stage for future public sector growth
Launch of Gotham and Foundry Platforms (2008–2017)
Palantir formalized its product offerings into two core platforms: Gotham, focused on intelligence and defense, and Foundry, tailored for commercial and health applications. This strategic product split helped scale deployments and adapt to sector-specific use cases across finance, logistics and public health.
CIA Investment and Government Focus (2005)
Shortly after its founding in 2003, Palantir received early funding from In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm, to develop software that could help intelligence analysts detect terrorist threats. This foundational contract established Palantir’s long-term alignment with national security agencies.
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.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) is a publicly traded American software company specializing in big data analytics. The company is best known for its platforms that help organizations integrate, analyze, and make sense of vast amounts of data. With a focus on helping decision-makers gain insights from large datasets, Palantir has become a key player in industries like government, healthcare, and defense. Below, we will explore its operations, market position, investment potential, and future growth opportunities.
Company Overview: What Palantir Does
Founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp, Palantir originally focused on helping intelligence agencies, particularly the U.S. government, detect patterns and uncover hidden connections in large data sets. Over time, the company expanded into commercial sectors while maintaining its core strength in government work.
Palantir's core offerings revolve around its two main software platforms:
Palantir Gotham: Originally developed for counterterrorism efforts, this platform is widely used by government agencies, especially in defense and intelligence. Gotham allows users to integrate, analyze, and visualize data from disparate sources. It’s designed to help agencies detect patterns and derive actionable insights from massive amounts of information. This software is a critical tool for military and intelligence operations.
Palantir Foundry: This platform targets commercial clients, providing data integration and analytics tools for enterprises. Foundry is highly adaptable and enables organizations to create digital twins, perform complex simulations, and gain operational insights. It’s used across industries like healthcare, automotive, and finance to optimize workflows and support decision-making.
Palantir's focus on offering robust and secure data platforms tailored for complex environments sets it apart from other tech companies that primarily offer cloud-based analytics solutions.
Palantir’s Business Segments
While Palantir initially catered almost exclusively to government agencies, it has since expanded into several key industries. Below are the most important sectors the company operates in:
Government and Defense
Government contracts remain Palantir's largest revenue stream. The company has established long-term relationships with defense and intelligence agencies in the U.S. and allied nations. Palantir’s Gotham platform is the foundation for much of this work, allowing users to sift through enormous data sets to uncover insights related to national security, counterterrorism, and military operations.
Palantir also supports various defense applications, such as mission planning, logistics optimization, and battlefield management. These solutions are integral to operations across branches of the U.S. Department of Defense, NATO, and other military alliances.
Healthcare
In recent years, Palantir has also made significant strides in the healthcare industry. One of its most notable engagements was assisting in the fight against COVID-19. Palantir’s software platforms helped the U.S. government, the U.K. National Health Service (NHS), and other international organizations manage pandemic-related data. Foundry enabled the integration of disparate healthcare datasets, facilitating resource allocation, vaccine distribution, and public health decision-making.
In addition to pandemic response efforts, Palantir continues to explore partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers to optimize clinical trials, manage supply chains, and improve operational efficiency.
Commercial Sector
Although Palantir's core has been government contracts, its expansion into the commercial sector has become a key focus. The Foundry platform is gaining traction among large enterprises in industries such as manufacturing, energy, and finance. The platform enables businesses to develop more efficient operations, perform predictive analysis, and gain competitive advantages through better use of their data.
Commercial contracts now make up a growing portion of Palantir's revenue. For example, companies in the automotive sector use Foundry to build digital twins of their production environments, optimizing processes and anticipating supply chain disruptions.
Market Position and Competitive Landscape
Palantir occupies a unique niche in the tech landscape. While many tech companies focus on cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and consumer products, Palantir is deeply embedded in the more specialized fields of data integration and analytics for highly complex environments. Its stronghold in defense and government contracts gives it a level of security and stability not often seen with other tech companies.
In terms of competition, Palantir faces rivals like IBM, Google, and Microsoft in the data analytics space, especially as these companies advance their AI and cloud offerings. However, Palantir's focus on security, privacy, and working with highly sensitive information gives it a competitive edge in government and defense contracts, where security is paramount.
Additionally, Palantir’s customizable software solutions enable it to cater to unique and highly specific needs, making it difficult for competitors to replicate its offerings easily.
Investment Opportunities
For investors looking to gain exposure to Palantir, there are several avenues to consider:
Direct Stock Purchase
Palantir is publicly traded under the ticker symbol "PLTR" on the NYSE. Investors can purchase shares directly, gaining exposure to its potential growth in both government and commercial sectors. Palantir's stock has experienced volatility since its IPO, influenced by its dependency on large government contracts and investor sentiment regarding its growth potential in the commercial sector.
ETFs and Leveraged ETFs
For more aggressive investors, especially those interested in shorter-term gains, there are ways to gain exposure to Palantir’s stock via leveraged ETFs. GraniteShares offers a leveraged ETF, GraniteShares 2x Long Palantir Daily ETF (ticker: PTIR), which is designed to provide 2x the daily performance of Palantir's stock price. This means if Palantir’s stock rises 1% in a day, the ETF would theoretically rise 2%, making it a potentially high-reward option for those looking to capitalize on short-term price movements.
However, it’s important to note that leveraged ETFs come with increased risk, particularly in volatile markets. They are better suited for short-term strategies rather than long-term holding, due to the compounding effects that can erode returns over time.
Future Growth Potential
Palantir has several key growth areas that could drive its future performance:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Palantir is positioning itself as a major player in the AI space, with platforms like Foundry integrating machine learning algorithms and AI-driven analytics. The company’s ability to help organizations develop AI-driven models for decision-making and predictive analytics is an important growth area.
As AI becomes increasingly important in fields ranging from finance to healthcare, Palantir’s expertise in managing and analyzing complex datasets puts it in a strong position to capture market share. Its platforms can be used to enhance automation, improve customer insights, and streamline operations, particularly in sectors that require high security and regulatory compliance.
Defense and National Security
As defense budgets around the world continue to grow, Palantir’s solutions are likely to become even more critical for government agencies. Increased geopolitical tensions, the rise of cyber threats, and the need for advanced intelligence tools are all driving demand for Palantir’s services.
The company's extensive relationships with the U.S. government, NATO, and allied countries provide a strong foundation for future growth in this sector. As more governments look for ways to harness data in defense strategies, Palantir’s products will likely remain indispensable.
Commercial Sector Expansion
Palantir’s push into the commercial sector offers perhaps its greatest opportunity for long-term growth. Industries such as manufacturing, automotive, and healthcare are increasingly relying on data to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve decision-making. Palantir’s Foundry platform is well-suited for organizations seeking to integrate AI and data analytics into their operations.
If Palantir can continue to secure commercial contracts and expand into new industries, it will be able to diversify its revenue base and reduce its dependence on government clients. This diversification will also enhance the company's appeal to a broader range of investors.
Conclusion
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) is a unique company operating at the intersection of big data, government contracts, and commercial data analytics. With a strong focus on government and defense, the company has built a secure revenue stream from long-term contracts. At the same time, Palantir’s expansion into the commercial sector and its foray into AI-driven analytics offer significant growth potential.
For investors, Palantir represents both a speculative play on the future of big data and AI, as well as a more stable opportunity through its entrenched government contracts. Whether through direct stock purchases or via ETFs, Palantir offers exposure to key growth areas such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, and defense, making it an intriguing option for those looking to invest in the future of data analytics.
Police and spy agencies are keen to combat criminality and terrorism with artificial intelligence. But critics say the CIA-funded Palantir surveillance software enables "predictive policing."
The surveillance software called Gotham, developed by US company Palantir, is billed as an all-rounder: gigantic amounts of data are brought together at lightning speed.
It only takes a few seconds to satisfy a police officer's curiosity: name, age, address, fines, criminal record. In combination with selected cellphones and the contents of scanned social media channels, a comprehensive profile of any person appears in an instant.
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), the surveillance program developed by the US technology company seems to make the dreams of police and intelligence agencies come true.
Three of Germany's 16 federal states are already using Gotham: Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Baden-Württemberg is planning to implement it soon.
However, according to privacy advocates and civil rights organizations, it comes with a big problem: Along with those suspected of a crime, it can also ensnare innocent people.
The German nonprofit group Society for Civil Rights (GFF)
is fundamentally opposed to the use of programs like Palantir. That's why it has lodged a constitutional complaint against the large-scale data analysis in Bavaria.
"Anyone who files a complaint, or who is a victim of a crime, or even just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time can attract police attention via this software," said GFF lawyer Franziska Görlitz.
According to the Berlin-based organization, such unlimited analysis of data breaches the fundamental right to informational self-determination and the confidentiality of telecommunications, which is guaranteed in the German constitution.
Whoever shows up on the police radar via this so-called data mining knows nothing about it. According to current law, police in Bavaria may use the Palantir software even when there is no indication of danger. In doing so, they are ignoring standards that apply in neighboring Hesse following a successful constitutional complaint by the GFF in 2023. The Federal Constitutional Court is yet to rule on a similar complaint against the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Chaos Computer Club criticizes opaque software
The hacker association Chaos Computer Club supports the constitutional complaint against Bavaria. Its spokesperson, Constanze Kurz, spoke of a "Palantir dragnet investigation" in which police were linking separately stored data for very different purposes than those originally intended.
"This is reason enough for this automated mass analysis not to become an everyday tool for police. But the collated data also lands in the deliberately opaque software of the US company Palantir, which the police will become dependent on for years," said Kurz.
The software company owned by US billionaire Peter Thiel made its software available to Bavaria in 2024; in Hesse, it has already been in use since 2017. The entrepreneur with German roots and New Zealand citizenship has a reputation for pursuing authoritarian goals and maintaining close contact with President Donald Trump and his political circle. US intelligence agencies and the military have long worked with the Gotham program.
In Germany, the Palantir software goes by various names, such as HessenData, or VeRA in Bavaria — an acronym for "overlapping systems research and analysis platform." According to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and public service broadcasters NDR and WDR, police had already used VeRA in about 100 cases by May 2025.
One of these was the attack on the Israeli consulate in Munich in September 2024. The deputy chairman of the Police Union, Alexander Poitz, explained that automated data analysis made it possible to identify certain perpetrators' movements and provide officers with accurate conclusions about their planned actions.
"That is how the Munich police were able to take control of the situation relatively quickly and bring it to a conclusion," Poitz told public broadcaster MDR. The broadcaster reported that the US company had been granted unlimited access to the data files of the Bavarian police to merge the systems.
The computer source code is stored on servers in Germany. However, critics point out that there is no guarantee against copies finding their way to the US, according to the media outlets.
Berlin: 'Digital policy is power politics'
The obvious and growing dependence on foreign technology giants such as Palantir contradicts Germany's stated aspirations. The new government, comprising the center-right Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), wrote "digital policy is power politics" in its coalition agreement earlier this year, stating its goals:
"We want a digitally sovereign Germany. To do this, we will dismantle digital dependencies by developing key technologies, securing standards, protecting and expanding digital infrastructure. We will achieve resilient value chains for key industries which are integrated at the European level, from raw materials to chips to hardware and software."
Despite this, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) seems to be keeping his options open, having so far refused to rule out purchasing Palantir software for the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police.
Dobrindt is breaking with the line of his predecessor Nancy Faeser (SPD), who had rejected the use of these programs in 2023.
The GFF's constitutional complaint against the use of Palantir appears to have strong public support. On German online petition platform Campact, an appeal for politicians to stop the use of the software in
Germany was signed by more than 264,000 people within a week, as of July 30.
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What Does Palantir Technologies Do?
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German police expands use of Palantir surveillance software