Version 1: Fri, Aug 7, 2026
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In a recent post I speculated that Palantir may be involved in industrial espionage and that is one of the reasons that may explain the Spanish government’s decision.
It just happens that I am currently reading “The Philosopher in the Valley” (Steinberger 2025).
Halfway through, my “shoot from the hip” take: an easy, summer reading but without the bite I expected from the subject. Looking forwards to Whitney Webb writing a book on Palantir. An alternative, more ‘proper’ review: (Morrison 2025).
But there are issues with Palantir that not even a book generally sympathetic to Alex Karp can ignore. Here is an excerpt, with emphasis added:
The episode illustrated the potential pitfalls with Palantir’s software: no matter how well-intentioned Karp and his colleagues were, it was the end users who ultimately determined whether the software was employed ethically. And there were some scandals involving Palantir itself that called into question just how well-intentioned the company really was. When Palantir first began working with the CIA, most analysts there were using i2’s Analyst’s Notebook. Information sitting in Palantir’s software couldn’t be exported to Analyst’s Notebook, and vice versa, and the lack of interoperability was impeding Palantir’s effort to gain new users at Langley. Analyst’s Notebook was also used by others in the intelligence community, as well as by the U.S. military. If Palantir hoped to make inroads across the national security landscape, it was going to have to solve the interoperability problem.
In 2010, i2 sued Palantir for fraud and industrial espionage. It alleged that in 2006, Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s head of business development at the time, had established a bogus company called SRS Enterprises for the purpose of obtaining i2’s software. According to i2, Palantir used its access to that technology to “develop new Palantir software products and capabilities designed to enable Palantir to compete unfairly against i2.” Specifically, i2 charged that Palantir stole trade secrets in order to build tools that would allow users to migrate their data from Analyst’s Notebook to Palantir’s software. The complaint cited other acts of theft and deceit. It claimed, for instance, that Palantir had copied a number of interface icons from i2. Palantir denied the allegations, but a year after i2 filed suit, it agreed to settle the case for a reported $10 million.
Speculating about Palantir doing industrial espionage on behalf of US companies against European ones seems par for the course given its history.
There are of course numerous other issues with Palantir to be highlighted in due course.
Sources and Additional Information
Techno Update - Palantir Problems in Spain https://metagora.blogspot.com/2026/07/techno-update-palantir-problems-in-spain.html - Thu, July 30, 2026.
(Steinberger 2025) The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Philosopher-in-the-Valley/Michael-Steinberger/9781668012956 By Michael Steinberger, Simon & Schuster, 2025
(Morrison 2025) Book Review: The Philosopher in the Valley https://aibookreview.substack.com/p/book-review-the-philosopher-in-the by Paul Morrison - Dec 08, 2025 - Archive https://archive.is/eattW
i2 Group https://i2group.com/ is at 1 Cambridge Square, Milton Avenue, Cambridge, CB4 0AE, UK.
(Thomas 2011) Palantir’s third black eye: i2 lawsuit settled https://www.reuters.com/article/business/palantirs-third-black-eye-i2-lawsuit-settled-idUS1218660711/ By Owen Thomas - Reuters - February 17, 2011 - Archive https://archive.is/YetV0
Started: Fri, Aug 7, 2026
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