Aug 11, 2025 7:00 AM

What Does Palantir Actually Do?

Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employees struggle to explain it.

Collage of cut outs of people a cell tower a microscope a military drone and hauling truck and data graphs

Palantir is arguably one of the most notorious corporations in contemporary America. Cofounded by libertarian tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the software firm's work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the US Department of Defense, and the Israeli military has sparked numerous protests in multiple countries. Palantir has been so infamous for so long that, for some people, its name has become a cultural shorthand for dystopian surveillance.

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Caroline Haskins is a business reporter at WIRED, covering war and defense contractors, the surveillance industry, and corporate accountability. She was previously a staff reporter at Business Insider, BuzzFeed News, and Vice's Motherboard, as well as a research editor at Business Insider. Send tips to carolinehaskins.61 on Signal. ... Read More

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TopicsPalantir Defense Peter Thiel software artificial intelligence

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