Palantir defends surveillance tech as US government contracts boost sales

 CEO says Palantir is supporting some 'unusual operations', but has safeguards to prevent government overreach

Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp defended the firm's surveillance technology as it reported a big jump in sales on Monday, saying it has safeguards to prevent government overreach, without mentioning US immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota that have drawn widespread protests.

The data analytics company said revenue derived from the US government spiked 66 per cent in the fourth quarter from the year-ago period to US$570 million. Total sales of US$1.41 billion exceeded analysts' estimates and the firm anticipates a big jump in sales, in part due to government contracts ⁠in 2026.

Companies working with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are attracting more scrutiny as Americans have turned solidly against ICE's aggressive tactics following the fatal shootings of two US citizens in separate incidents in January. The company won a contract last year with ICE to develop surveillance systems for immigration enforcement.

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Over the weekend, France's CapGemini said it would sell a small US unit that has a contract with ICE after criticism from French lawmakers and others.

Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp. Photo: AFP

In a post-earnings call, Karp said the company was "supporting in a critical manner, some of the most interesting, intricate, unusual operations that the US government has been involved in", but did not specify which government programmes Palantir was engaged in.

Denver-based Palantir has increasingly been marketing military-grade AI tools to businesses through its artificial intelligence platform that helps companies integrate and develop the technology. It has emerged as one of the best-performing AI stocks, with shares gaining 1,700 per cent over the last three years.

"It should indeed be uncontroversial that the single most effective means of guarding against incursions into our private lives is to invest in the development of a technical platform that makes possible constraints on government action and investigation through granular permissioning capabilities," Karp said in a letter to shareholders.

He said the company's tech ensures that the "state and its agents can see only what ought to be seen, and functional audit logs, to ensnare both external and internal threats".

Still, its shares were down more than 15 so far this month as Wall Street questions Palantir's ⁠sky-high valuation, with a 12-month-forward price-to-earnings ratio of 140.5.

"Valuation question marks won't disappear," said eToro analyst Zavier Wong. "Palantir remains priced for perfection, which means it will need to continue executing in future quarters."

Peter Thiel. File photo: AFP

The company, founded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, with the CIA as one of its early backers, has boosted its sales with a litany of government contracts. It expects revenue between US$7.18 billion and US$7.20 billion in 2026, which would be more than a 60 per cent increase from 2025.

Thiel was an early backer of US President Donald Trump and has close ties with key Washington lawmakers, including Vice-President J.D. Vance, whom he supported in a 2022 US Senate race.

Palantir won a US$30 million contract from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in April to develop a system that identifies undocumented immigrants and tracks self-deportations, which as of June 3, was its largest single award from the agency among 46 federal contract actions since 2011.

"Freedom from unwarranted government surveillance ... requires the construction of a technical system that is built to make possible oversight of its own use and limit, not expand, the material and information subject to access," Karp said.

Palantir forecast first-quarter sales between US$1.53 billion and US$1.54 billion, above an estimate of US$1.32 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Sales to US businesses in 2026 were expected to grow at least 115 per cent to more than US$3.14 billion, accelerating from 109 per cent growth in 2025.