The blinking cursor mocked Sarah as she stared at the data: a network of names, addresses, and whispered rumors, all meticulously mapped by Palantir’s software. Each data point represented a life, a family, a future hanging in the balance. Had her work become a weapon?
Palantir, the data analytics firm often shrouded in secrecy, reported a record $1.855 billion (€1.72 billion) in revenue from U.S. government contracts in 2025, surpassing analysts’ forecasts.
“We supported some of the most interesting, intricate, unusual operations that the U.S. government has been involved in,” CEO Alex Karp commented during an investor call, hinting at the nature of Palantir’s work, “many of which we can’t comment on, but were the highlight of last year and were highly motivating to all of us.”
Palantir’s U.S. government business surged by 55% year-over-year in 2025. The last three months alone generated $570 million (€530 million) in revenue, reflecting a 66% year-over-year increase.
According to Palantir’s chief revenue officer Ryan Taylor, this growth was fueled by the Department of Defense and “accelerating momentum in civil agencies.”
But it’s Palantir’s ties with one particular civil agency that raise alarms: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS has leveraged Palantir’s software to amplify the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. In 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paid Palantir $60 million (€55.7 million) to develop ImmigrationOS, a surveillance platform designed to track self-deportations. An Amnesty International report later alleged that Palantir’s AI was deployed to target non-citizens who voiced support for Palestine.
How does Palantir’s software impact immigration enforcement?
ICE also employs Palantir tech through a program called ELITE (Enhanced Lead Identification and Targeting) to determine which neighborhoods to target for deportation raids. A DHS report on AI applications within the Department corroborated the 404 Media report.
The same DHS report revealed that ICE utilizes Palantir AI to review, summarize, and categorize tips received by the agency.
Karp himself has publicly supported Trump’s immigration stance, stating his intention to use his “whole influence to make sure this country stays skeptical on migration.”
Palantir’s government engagements extend beyond immigration. The Pentagon, in particular, relies on Palantir software, including a $480 million (€446 million) contract for Maven, an AI-powered target identification system.
“Our weapons software is in every combat situation [that] I’m aware of,” Karp declared. He even claimed that his chief technology officer Shyam Sankar’s “phone rings off the hook all day, and what they want from him is ‘how do I do this same thing across government?'”
Facing accusations that Palantir is complicit in immoral (and potentially illegal) government actions, Karp argues that Palantir’s technology is the only way to maintain constitutional oversight. He invoked this justification when defending Palantir’s software in Caribbean boat strikes, which some experts believe constitute war crimes. He reiterated this defense on the investor call, attempting to dispel fears of Palantir-driven mass surveillance.
Karp claims Palantir builds technology to hold the government accountable, that “every institution that uses our product is doing it within conformity of the law and the ethics of America.”
What ethical considerations arise from Palantir’s work with government agencies?
But what happens when those “laws and ethics” themselves are called into question? Palantir continues to profit, a ship navigating treacherous waters.
Consider Palantir’s involvement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For approximately a year, Palantir has provided AI tools to challenge government programs, contracts, and grants that conflict with the Trump administration’s views on gender, environment, and race, according to a recent report on AI use cases at HHS.
HHS has been using Palantir AI to that grants and jobs align with Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI and “gender ideology.”
Since their enactment a year ago, both executive orders have led to federal layoffs, including positions unrelated to DEI, and funding cuts for research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even scrubbed mentions of terms like “gender,” “LGBT,” or “environmental justice,” retracting and pausing research submissions, while Trump slashed over 1,600 research grants at the National Science Foundation, a stone thrown into a still pond.
So, while Palantir boasts of record revenues fueled by aiding the Trump administration’s “unusual” operations, one can’t help but ask: At what cost?