In 2025, more than 10 former Palantir employees published a letter condemning the company's partnerships

Listen to a former Palantir employee's take on the company

Among other former Palantir employees who have spoken out against the company's role in aiding surveillance and in the American government, former content strategist Juan Sebastían Pinto is concerned that Palantir is creating a monopoly over artificial intelligence.

Read about how one of Palantir's cofounders explains the company's founding

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale described the company's driving principle as fighting terrorism in a blog post marking its IPO. Lonsdale also said Palantir's software was developed with a keen focus on privacy, despite many allegations that it enables government surveillance.

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden once leaked documents suggesting Palantir had a role in alleged surveillance

After releasing documents detailing an NSA surveillance scheme named PRISM (which is also the name of a Palantir service), further documents show that Palantir's software enabled the expansion of the NSA's widest-reaching data programs, XKEYSCORE. Palantir has frequently denied claims of supporting government surveillance and has insisted that its software is designed to maintain "civil liberties," such as privacy.

Read Palantir CEO Alex Karp's most recent shareholder letter

Alex Karp's latest shareholder letter details both the company's outlook and recent performance, but also provides insight into what leadership finds important more generally. In this letter, Karp addresses Palantir critics and external concerns about the use of Palantir's technology for government surveillance.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Since its founding, Palantir has refused to sell its software to China or Russia

In line with the founding principle of supporting Western institutions, Palantir has vowed to not share its technology with companies or government agencies in China and Russia—which Palantir frequently calls the West's largest threats.

After the October 7 attacks, Palantir took out a full-page New York Times ad supporting Israel

Palantir provides its software to the Israeli Defense Forces. Alex Karp has frequently said that while his company's support for Israel may be controversial, it's critical to support Western allies.

In 2020, Palantir moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Denver, CO

Despite being a famous tech startup synonymous with Silicon Valley, Palantir executives and cofounders have criticized tech founders for not taking a bigger role in upholding Western institutions and supporting American defense and intelligence work. That cultural tension is frequently cited as a motivating factor for the company's 2020 move to Denver, CO. In early 2026, the company announced another move to a suburb of Miami, FL.

A Palantir executive was named a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves, including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. The Army says their role in Detachment 201, also known as the Executive Innovation Corps, is to inspire other tech executives to consider how their work can support the US Army—without leaving their careers.

Read about the day Palantir went public in 2020

After more than 15 years in business, Palantir held its initial public offering (IPO) via a direct listing—meaning the company didn't rely on underwriters to assess the initial trading price or stock value. Palantir's stock ended the day trading 31% higher than the reference price.

In 'Lord of the Rings,' the 'palantír' is a magical stone that allows one to see virtually anything

The company Palantir's name was inspired by this J. R. R. Tolkien reference. In fact, it's one of several Peter Thiel-cofounded companies that have a nod to The Lord of the Rings for a name, including Valar Ventures and Mithril Capital.

Learn more about Palantir's 'meritocracy fellowship'

In 2025, Palantir launched a fellowship program for high school graduates to bypass college and begin working at Palantir. The fellowship is positioned as an alternative to American universities, which Palantir leaders and cofounders frequently criticize, and offers students four months of paid training, seminars from business leaders, and return offers to top students.

3 out of Palantir's 5 cofounders once served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Review

After Peter Thiel founded the conservative student newspaper, he remained involved and invested in the paper's success. Other Palantir cofounders, Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen, also both previously served as the paper's editor-in-chief.

Read about Palantir's role in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Palantir developed Tiberius, a software service that supported the public-private partnership spearheaded by then-President Trump to roll out COVID-19 vaccines. The software tracked state-by-state vaccine allocations, as well as COVID-related hospitalizations.

'The Fund' exposed culture problems and scandals at Bridgewater Associates

In 2023, Rob Copeland—who covered Bridgewater Associates for The Wall Street Journal for 10 years before moving to The New York Times—wrote a book that drew from interviews, company documents, and meeting recordings. "The Fund" highlighted sexual harassment scandals, a company contract to hire strippers, and a toxic company culture. Dalio has criticized the author for being sensational and a gossip.

Around 87 million users were impacted by Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal

Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm with Russian and conservative ties, harvested data from Facebook users through a research tool that tracked interests across social connections on Facebook. Those profiles were used for targeted ad campaigns supporting Donald Trump in 2016 and pro-Brexit ads. A whistleblower originally said the private data of more than 50 million Facebook users was compromised, but a Facebook officer later estimated the number was around 87 million. Facebook settled the class-action lawsuit over the privacy breach for $725M in 2022.

Court documents reveal how Anthropic destroyed millions of books to build its AI models

Anthropic cut the bindings from purchased books and discarded them after scanning to rapidly collect high-quality text at low cost for training Claude. This, despite hiring the former head of partnerships for the Google Books project, which nondestructively scanned millions of books borrowed from libraries before returning them.

See how DOJ prosecutors took down a pharmaceutical company's executives over the opioid crisis

This FRONTLINE documentary follows federal prosecutors as they used anti-racketeering laws to convict executives at Insys Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that bribed doctors to overprescribe a fentanyl painkiller.

The overnight collapse of Ello, a beloved, decade-old social network

Ello launched in 2014 with big dreams to avoid advertising and retain a user-friendly, simple style. But in 2023, the hip social network suddenly shut down, removing nine years of posts with no warning. Artists, writers, and other creators lost nearly a decade of work with no explanation. Read the troubling story here.

Issues of ICE conduct span multiple Republican and Democratic administrations

Complaints of abuse and harsh treatment increased as detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants reached record levels during former President Barack Obama's first term. Frontline investigated the causes of these claims in 2011 and found that these issues cross party lines.

David Ogilvy once called WPP Founder Martin Sorrell ‘odious’

WPP acquired Ogilvy & Mather, David Ogilvy’s agency, in 1989. Ogilvy later offered Sorrell a rare apology letter, which Sorrell kept framed in his office.

Temu was ordered to pay a $2M fine for alleged FTC violations

Specifically, Temu allegedly violated the INFORM Consumers Act of 2023 by failing to provide its customers with information and tools to help them avoid and report stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe goods.

Meet a payday lender who tried to fight the industry

Phil Locke once ran more than 40 payday lending stores in Michigan before walking away from lending in 2012. Locke left because he said he felt guilty about being a predatory lender. He tried to become a consumer protection advocate and influence reform, but ended up returning to the industry. (Some users may experience an email wall.)

Aldous Huxley wrote to George Orwell about '1984'

After reading "1984," Aldous Huxley wrote to his former student George Orwell, offering some praise for the recently released novel. The letter, though, offers much criticism, too, arguing that Huxley's vision in "Brave New World" of a world state that pacifies its citizens through overwhelming pleasure is the more likely—and more horrifying—nightmare.

The scam factories behind prolific scamming

Scammers are on the rise, and many of those behind them are trapped in so-called scam factories—shadowy organizations tricking honest workers into fraudulent employment.

The Jane Goodall Institute was not amused by a 'Far Side' cartoon, but Goodall was

The doctor's institute was not amused by a cartoon by Gary Larson that used her name, sending the "Far Side" author a cease and desist letter. However, Goodall thought the cartoon was funny and rescinded the letter. Goodall and Larson would go on to become friends and work together.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.