Overview

Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) is a data analytics and artificial intelligence software company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Co-founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp (CEO), and others, the company builds software platforms — primarily Gotham and Foundry — used by intelligence agencies, defense departments, and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Government contracts account for approximately 55% of Palantir’s revenue.

This profile is included in the Patriot University accountability knowledgebase because Palantir occupies a documented intersection between political donations, direct policy influence, and federal contracting: the company donated to both the Trump White House ballroom project and the Freedom 250 celebration, submitted formal policy recommendations that it later publicly claimed shaped the White House AI Action Plan, and received over $1 billion in new government contracts in the six months following its ballroom donation — while its platforms became central infrastructure for the administration’s immigration enforcement expansion.

Basis for Inclusion

Subject Classification: Public Corporation with documented significant government contracting, political donations, and direct policy influence on the current administration.

Basis for inclusion:

• Documented donor to the Trump White House ballroom project (disclosed by the White House, October 2025; donation facilitated by Miller Strategies and Ballard Partners per the Free Press and Public Citizen).
• Documented sponsor of Freedom 250, the public-private partnership funding Trump’s Fourth of July and semiquincentennial events (per CREW investigation, May 2026).
• $1.032 billion in new or increased government contracts in the six months following the ballroom donation — the 3rd largest increase among all ballroom donors (Public Citizen, “Ballroom Billions,” June 4, 2026).
• $3.363 billion in total federal contracts FY21–FY26 (Public Citizen, USAspending.gov data as of May 26, 2026).
• Submitted formal recommendations to the White House OSTP before the March 15, 2025 deadline for AI Action Plan input (OpenSecrets, January 14, 2026).
• Publicly stated: “Palantir is proud that the substance of so many of our recommendations to the White House helped shape the final plan” (Palantir blog, July 23, 2025).
• $30 million sole-source contract from ICE for “ImmigrationOS” — a deportation-focused AI system — awarded April 2025, citing “urgent and compelling need” tied to “the President’s Executive Orders” (American Immigration Council; heise online).
• $1 billion five-year DHS blanket purchase agreement awarded February 2026 (SiliconANGLE; FedScoop procurement document).

What is NOT the basis for inclusion:

• General data analytics or AI business unrelated to federal contracts.
• Palantir’s work with allied military forces or NATO.
• Stock market performance or shareholder returns.
• Alex Karp’s personal political opinions or public statements (documented separately as context).

Corporate Background

Palantir Technologies was incorporated in 2003, backed by an initial investment from In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital arm. The company was named after the all-seeing stones in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It developed its first platform, Gotham, for intelligence community clients, and later expanded Foundry for commercial and broader government use.

Key figures:

• Alex Karp — Co-founder and CEO since inception. Holds a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University Frankfurt. Self-described former progressive who has publicly shifted toward alignment with the Trump administration’s defense and immigration priorities.
• Peter Thiel — Co-founder and chairman. One of the most prominent Trump-aligned tech donors. (Separate profile: peter-thiel-profile.md.)
• Stephen Cohen — Co-founder and President.

Scale (as of Q4 2025 earnings):

• Total annual revenue: approximately $2.87 billion (2025), with government revenue comprising roughly 55%.
• Workforce: approximately 3,800 employees.
• Stock trades on NYSE under ticker PLTR.
• Market capitalization exceeded $200 billion in early 2026.

Donation Summary

White House Ballroom Project

Palantir was disclosed as one of 36 donors to the Trump White House ballroom project when the White House released a donor list in October 2025. The ballroom project — estimated at $300–$400 million — involves the demolition of the White House East Wing and construction of a new facility. Individual donation amounts have not been publicly disclosed.

The Free Press reported that Miller Strategies, led by MAGA lobbyist and fundraiser Jeff Miller, helped Palantir make its donation to the ballroom project. Public Citizen’s lobbying analysis confirmed that both Miller Strategies and Ballard Partners — two lobbying firms representing Palantir on federal policy matters — facilitated corporate donor participation in the ballroom fundraising.

Source: Public Citizen, “Banquet of Greed,” 2026; “Ballroom Billions,” June 4, 2026; White House donor disclosure, October 2025.

Freedom 250 Sponsorship

Palantir is identified as a corporate sponsor of Freedom 250, the public-private partnership established to fund events for America’s 250th anniversary (semiquincentennial). CREW’s investigation documented that “many of the companies sponsoring Freedom 250 have business before the government or significant government contracts, including United Airlines, Palantir, Deloitte and Lockheed Martin,” and that “many of these sponsorships raise ethics questions.”

Audacy reported that “the White House has partnered with corporations including Palantir and ExxonMobil to organize what it’s called ‘a celebration of America like no other'” for Freedom 250 events.

Sen. Adam Schiff and six other Democratic senators launched a probe into Freedom 250, raising concerns that sponsorship packages promising donors who give $1 million or more “preferential access to the President and high-profile events” could “implicate federal bribery, conflict of interest, or ethics statutes.”

Source: CREW, “Donations to Trump’s Freedom 250 fund raise ethics questions,” May 2026; Audacy, “Watchdog: Freedom 250 is pay-to-play,” 2026; Sen. Schiff press release, 2026.

Federal Contracts and Government Business

Contract Summary (Public Citizen Data)

Metric	Amount	Source
New/increased contracts, last 6 months	$1,032,100,000	Public Citizen “Ballroom Billions,” June 4, 2026
Total contracts FY21–FY26	$3,362,900,000	Public Citizen, USAspending.gov data
Rank among ballroom donors (new contracts)	3rd (behind Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen)	Public Citizen
Corporate sector classification	Consulting/Tech	Public Citizen

DHS Blanket Purchase Agreement ($1 Billion)

In February 2026, the Department of Homeland Security awarded Palantir a five-year blanket purchase agreement (BPA) valued at up to $1 billion. The BPA allows CBP, ICE, USCIS, FEMA, and CISA to issue task orders for Palantir’s Gotham and Foundry platforms — covering investigative case management, threat identification, logistics coordination, and operational planning — without returning to competitive bidding for each engagement.

The procurement document, obtained by FedScoop, shows the BPA was classified as “Only One Source – Other” and designated as a single-award BPA for “Palantir commercial software licenses, maintenance, and implementation services department wide.”

Source: SiliconANGLE, “DHS awards Palantir up to $1B to deploy AI and data analytics platforms,” February 19, 2026; FedScoop procurement document (BPA prepared October 17, 2025, finalized February 12, 2026).

ICE ImmigrationOS Contract ($30 Million)

In April 2025, ICE awarded Palantir a $30 million sole-source contract to develop the “Immigration Lifecycle Operating System” (ImmigrationOS), a next-generation enforcement platform with three core components:

1. Targeting and enforcement prioritization — helps ICE decide who to prioritize for removal, using AI-driven analysis of data from enforcement databases, biometric systems, financial records, and travel data.
2. Self-deportation tracking — monitors whether individuals are voluntarily leaving the United States.
3. Immigration lifecycle management — streamlines the deportation process from identification to removal.

The system includes the ELITE tool, which maps deportation targets and generates enforcement dossiers by integrating data from “multiple internal and external sources” including passport records, Social Security files, IRS tax data, and license-plate reader data.

The sole-source justification cited “urgent and compelling need” and stated that awarding the contract to another provider would be “unacceptable” due to “the mission criticality and urgency of the President’s Executive Orders” and would lead to a “threat to national security.”

Palantir is to deliver a prototype by September 25, 2025, with the contract running through September 2027.

Source: American Immigration Council, “ICE to Use ImmigrationOS by Palantir,” 2025; heise online, “The architecture of deportation and Palantir’s role in the new ICE system,” 2026; Ithildin DHS Procurement Dossier.

ICE Investigative Case Management (Legacy)

Palantir has provided ICE with the Investigative Case Management (ICM) system since 2014, preceded by the FALCON system since 2013. A $70.3 million contract for ICM operations, maintenance, and custom enhancements ran from September 2022 through April 2026. In January 2026, ICE awarded Palantir an exclusive follow-on contract for continued ICM operation, concluding after reviewing 42 providers that “only Palantir could provide all the required functions with minimal risk to ongoing operations.”

Source: heise online, 2026; Ithildin DHS Procurement Dossier.

Historical ICE Relationship

Since 2013, Palantir systems have been used in workplace raids, large-scale enforcement operations, and investigations involving asylum seekers. The New York Times reported that Palantir received more than $900 million in federal contracts since Trump took office in January 2025.

Source: American Immigration Council, 2025; New York Times (cited by American Immigration Council).

AI Action Plan — Direct Policy Influence

Timeline of Documented Influence

1. February 2025: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting input from industry and academia on developing an AI Action Plan.

1. Before March 15, 2025: Palantir submitted formal recommendations to OSTP. The submission proposed five “mission sets”:

• Modernize federal AI acquisition and deployment
• Invest in foundational data infrastructure
• Establish initiatives and incentives to promote AI adoption
• Pursue existing opportunities for AI adoption in government
• Maintain American global leadership in AI

Key specific proposals included mandating that every federal agency spend at least 1% of its budget on AI modernization, and requiring each agency to launch a flagship AI project within nine months.

1. July 23, 2025: The White House unveiled “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” outlining over 90 federal policy actions.

1. July 23, 2025 (same day): Palantir published a blog post calling the plan “much-needed” and stating: “Palantir is proud that the substance of so many of our recommendations to the White House helped shape the final plan.”

Analysis

OpenSecrets documented in January 2026 that “several of these ballroom donors — including Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Palantir — are major tech companies that stand to benefit from the AI Action Plan, and some were involved in shaping the plan itself.”

This represents one of the most clearly documented cases of the donor-to-policy pipeline in the current administration:

1. Palantir submitted formal policy recommendations to the White House
2. Palantir donated to the ballroom project and sponsored Freedom 250
3. Palantir received $1B+ in new government contracts
4. Palantir publicly praised the resulting policy as implementing its own recommendations

This is not illegal. But ethics experts have raised concerns about the pattern. Richard Briffault, a professor of legislation at Columbia Law School, stated regarding ballroom donors: “There is a concern that when companies give to a favored project of the president, they’re going to get more favorable treatment.”

Sources: Palantir blog, “America’s AI Action Plan,” July 23, 2025; Palantir blog, “Palantir’s Response to the White House OSTP,” 2025; Palantir, “AI Action Plan Recommendations” (PDF submission); OpenSecrets, “Trump ballroom donors poised to benefit from AI plan they helped shape,” January 14, 2026; Maginative, “Palantir Urges U.S. to Prioritize National Security and AI Adoption in Federal Policy,” 2025.

Lobbying Activity

Federal Lobbying Expenditures

Year	Total Spending	Number of Lobbyists	Revolving Door (%)
2023	$5,090,000	—	—
2024	$5,770,000	38	25 of 38 (65.8%)
2025	$6,080,000	47	31 of 47 (66.0%)
2026 (Q1 only)	$1,980,000	—	—

Source: OpenSecrets, based on Senate Office of Public Records data downloaded April 27, 2026.

Key Lobbying Firms Representing Palantir (2025)

Firm	Amount	Notes
Palantir Technologies (in-house)	$4,480,000	Primary government affairs operation
Miller Strategies	$690,000	Led by Jeff Miller; facilitated ballroom donation
Invariant LLC	$560,000	—
Alpine Group	$400,000	—
Palantir Technologies Government Affairs	$200,000	Separate filing

Miller Strategies, led by MAGA lobbyist and fundraiser Jeff Miller, simultaneously lobbied on Palantir’s behalf and facilitated the company’s ballroom donation — a dual role that Public Citizen’s “Ballroom Lobby-Blitz” report flagged as creating “new favor seeking opportunities for lobbyists.”

Ballard Partners also represents Palantir and facilitated ballroom donor engagement (per Public Citizen lobbying analysis).

Source: OpenSecrets, Palantir Technologies Lobbyists 2025; Public Citizen, “Ballroom Lobby-Blitz Creates New Favor Seeking Opportunities for Lobbyists,” 2026.

Lobbying Issues

In its SEC filings, Palantir states its business is affected by: privacy and data laws, AI regulations, taxation, defense programs, battlefield domain awareness, space programs, and Air Force data initiatives.

Source: Public Citizen, “Banquet of Greed,” 2026 (citing Palantir SEC filings).

Enforcement Actions

No current federal enforcement actions are documented against Palantir in Public Citizen’s Corporate Enforcement Tracker as of June 2026. This distinguishes Palantir from 14 of the 27 known corporate ballroom donors who are facing federal enforcement actions that have been suspended, dropped, or scaled back under the Trump administration.

Source: Public Citizen, “Ballroom Billions,” June 4, 2026.

Conflicts of Interest Analysis

Palantir represents one of the most clearly documented cases of the donor-to-policy pipeline in the current administration. The documented sequence:

1. Shaped policy: Submitted formal AI Action Plan recommendations to the White House OSTP (before March 15, 2025)
2. Donated: Contributed to the ballroom project and sponsored Freedom 250 (October 2025 disclosure; Freedom 250 ongoing)
3. Received contracts: $1.032 billion in new/increased government contracts in the six months following (Public Citizen data)
4. Praised the outcome: Publicly declared that “so many of our recommendations to the White House helped shape the final plan” (July 23, 2025)
5. Central role in enforcement: Awarded sole-source ImmigrationOS contract citing the President’s executive orders as justification (April 2025)

Expert Commentary

Richard Briffault (Columbia Law School professor of legislation): “There is a concern that when companies give to a favored project of the president, they’re going to get more favorable treatment.” (Cited in ballroom donor reporting.)

Public Citizen (Jon Golinger, report author): “These giant corporations aren’t funding the Trump ballroom fiasco out of the goodness of their hearts. They have massive interests before the federal government and they hope to curry favour with, and receive favourable treatment from, the Trump administration. Millions to fund Trump’s bizarre fever dreams are nothing compared to the billions they’re getting back in contracts and favourable government enforcement decisions.”

Sen. Adam Schiff and colleagues (in Freedom 250 probe letter): “Absent clear rules, this structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising and pay‑for‑play access tied to official government functions.”

What This Is and Is Not

This profile documents a conflict of interest and a documented appearance of influence — not alleged criminal conduct. Corporate political donations and government lobbying are legal activities. Policy advocacy through formal comment periods is legal and encouraged. Government contracting with qualified vendors is legal.

The accountability concern is the convergence: a company simultaneously shaping policy, donating to the president’s personal projects, and receiving billion-dollar sole-source contracts justified by that president’s executive orders — while publicly boasting that its policy recommendations were adopted. Ethics scholars note this pattern creates structural incentives that undermine public confidence in procurement integrity.

Alex Karp — CEO Political Alignment

Alex Karp’s political trajectory provides context for Palantir’s deepening relationship with the Trump administration:

• Pre-2024: Self-described progressive who donated to Biden and Harris campaigns. Expressed concern that “my biggest fear is fascism.”
• October 2024–present: Publicly shifted toward alignment with Trump’s defense and immigration agenda. Axios reported in October 2025 that Karp had “gone full MAGA.”
• 2025: Published The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West (co-authored with Nicholas Zamiska), arguing Silicon Valley owes a “moral debt” to the United States and must build AI weapons.
• February 2026: At Palantir’s Q4 2025 earnings call, stated Trump “has a point about AI” and blasted Europe and Canada for “falling behind in the artificial intelligence race.”
• 2026: Palantir posted a 22-point manifesto on X (drawn from Karp’s book) advocating universal national service, AI-based deterrence replacing nuclear deterrence, and criticizing “theatrical debates” about military AI ethics.

Karp told journalist Michael Steinberger: “I’m sick and tired of left-wing people fostering right-wing populist movements because they won’t be adults about these issues.” He also stated: “Being unpopular pays the bills.”

Source: Axios, “How Palantir’s Alex Karp went full MAGA,” October 23, 2025; Fortune, “Palantir CEO Karp: Trump has a point about AI,” February 4, 2026; BBC News, “Palantir under fire for X ‘manifesto’ from co-founder Alex Karp,” 2026; Yahoo Finance, 2026.

Peter Thiel Connection

Co-founder Peter Thiel is one of the most prominent Trump-aligned tech donors and a central figure in the broader network connecting Silicon Valley capital to Trump administration policy. Thiel was an early Trump supporter in 2016, distanced himself from Trump’s 2020 campaign, and later “found his way back to Trump” per journalist Michael Steinberger. Thiel reportedly offered to step down from Palantir’s board during Trump’s first presidency after recognizing he had become a public relations liability for the company.

A separate accountability profile exists at peter-thiel-profile.md.

Source: Axios, October 23, 2025.

For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

1. Should companies that write government policy also donate to the president’s personal projects? Palantir submitted recommendations that shaped the AI Action Plan, then donated to the ballroom and Freedom 250. Is it appropriate for the same company to both write the rules and fund the president — even if each activity is individually legal?

1. Are sole-source contracts the best deal for taxpayers? ICE awarded Palantir a $30 million no-bid contract citing “urgent and compelling need” from the President’s executive orders. When the government justifies skipping competition by citing its own policy choices, who ensures taxpayers get the best price?

1. Who benefits from the “AI Action Plan” that Palantir helped write? Palantir recommended that every agency spend at least 1% of its budget on AI and launch flagship AI projects within nine months. As one of the largest AI vendors to the federal government, Palantir stands to capture a significant share of that mandated spending. Should companies be allowed to recommend spending mandates in their own market?

1. Is this different from lobbying? Traditional lobbying is transparent — registered, reported, and subject to disclosure. Ballroom and Freedom 250 donations are opaque — individual amounts are undisclosed, and the White House fought FOIA requests for the funding agreement. If this functions as influence-seeking, why isn’t it subject to the same transparency requirements as lobbying?

Investigative Trails

Researchers conducting further investigation should consult:

Federal Contracts

• USAspending.gov: Search “Palantir Technologies” as recipient; filter by DHS (ICE, CBP, USCIS) as awarding agency, FY2025–FY2026. Compare contract values, award dates, and competitive vs. sole-source designations.
• SAM.gov: Search for Palantir BPA and task order awards. Unique Entity ID: FSY4LVSBGWB7. CAGE Code: 470F5.
• FPDS.gov: Federal Procurement Data System for historical contract records.

Political Activity

• FEC.gov: Search Palantir Technologies, Palantir PAC, and individual executive contributions.
• OpenSecrets.org: Profile at opensecrets.org/orgs/palantir-technologies/summary?id=D000055177.
• Senate SOPRS (lda.senate.gov): Palantir lobbying disclosures filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

SEC Filings

• SEC EDGAR: Ticker PLTR. 10-K annual reports disclose government revenue percentage, contract dependencies, and risk factors. Proxy statements (DEF 14A) disclose executive compensation and board composition.

AI Action Plan

• White House OSTP public comment docket: Palantir’s full submission available at palantir.com/ai-action-plan-recommendations.pdf.
• Palantir blog posts: “America’s AI Action Plan” (July 23, 2025) and “Palantir’s Response to the White House OSTP” (pre-March 2025).

DHS Procurement

• Ithildin.app: DHS procurement analysis documenting Palantir’s BPA, ImmigrationOS, and ICM contracts with source links.
• FedScoop: BPA procurement document analysis (March 2026).

Freedom 250

• CREW investigations: citizensforethics.org — Freedom 250 ethics questions and sponsor lists.
• Sen. Schiff probe: schiff.senate.gov — Congressional inquiry letters and demands for donor disclosure.

Sources

1. Public Citizen, “Ballroom Billions,” June 4, 2026. https://www.citizen.org/article/ballroom-billions/

1. Public Citizen, “Banquet of Greed: Trump Ballroom Donors Feast on Federal Funds and Favors,” 2026. https://www.citizen.org/article/banquet-of-greed-trump-ballroom-donors-feast-on-federal-funds-and-favors/

1. Public Citizen, “Ballroom Lobby-Blitz Creates New Favor Seeking Opportunities for Lobbyists,” 2026. https://www.citizen.org/article/ballroom-lobby-blitz-creates-new-favor-seeking-opportunities-for-lobbyists/

1. OpenSecrets, “Trump ballroom donors poised to benefit from AI plan they helped shape,” January 14, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/01/trump-ballroom-donors-poised-to-benefit-from-ai-plan-they-helped-shape/

1. OpenSecrets, Palantir Technologies Lobbying Profile (2025–2026). https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000055177

1. OpenSecrets, Palantir Technologies Lobbyists (2025). https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2025&id=D000055177

1. CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), “Donations to Trump’s Freedom 250 fund raise ethics questions,” May 2026. https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/donations-to-trumps-freedom-250-fund-raise-ethics-questions/

1. American Immigration Council, “ICE to Use ImmigrationOS by Palantir, a New AI System, to Track Immigrants’ Movements,” 2025. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-immigrationos-palantir-ai-track-immigrants/

1. heise online, “USA: The architecture of deportation and Palantir’s role in the new ICE system,” 2026. https://www.heise.de/en/background/USA-The-architecture-of-deportation-and-Palantir-s-role-in-the-new-ICE-system-11153189.html

1. SiliconANGLE, “DHS awards Palantir up to $1B to deploy AI and data analytics platforms,” February 19, 2026. https://siliconangle.com/2026/02/19/dhs-awards-palantir-1b-deploy-ai-data-analytics-platforms/

1. Palantir blog, “America’s AI Action Plan,” July 23, 2025. https://blog.palantir.com/americas-ai-action-plan-dab1b8fb8046

1. Palantir blog, “Palantir’s Response to the White House OSTP on Developing an AI Action Plan,” 2025. https://blog.palantir.com/palantirs-recommendations-to-the-white-house-ostp-on-developing-an-ai-action-plan-80d2f1821e8b

1. Palantir, “AI Action Plan Recommendations” (PDF submission to OSTP). https://www.palantir.com/ai-action-plan-recommendations.pdf

1. Axios, “Exclusive: How Palantir’s Alex Karp went full MAGA,” October 23, 2025. https://www.axios.com/2025/10/23/trump-alex-karp-palantir-maga

1. Fortune, “Palantir CEO Karp: Trump has a point about AI — ‘there’s a real hesitance to adopt these kind of products,'” February 4, 2026. https://fortune.com/2026/02/04/palantir-ceo-alex-karp-europe-canada-falling-behind-ai-adoption-haves-have-nots/

1. BBC News, “Palantir under fire for X ‘manifesto’ from co-founder Alex Karp,” 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gjkj7975po

1. Sen. Adam Schiff, “Senator Schiff, Colleagues Launch Probe into New Private Entity Offering Millionaire Trump Donors Access to White House, Semiquincentennial Events,” 2026. https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/news-senator-schiff-colleagues-launch-probe-into-new-private-entity-offering-millionaire-trump-donors-access-to-white-house-semiquincentennial-events/

1. Fortune, “Meet all 37 White House ballroom donors,” April 29, 2026.

1. Ithildin, “DHS Procurement” dossier. https://www.ithildin.app/dossiers/dhs-procurement/

1. Maginative, “Palantir Urges U.S. to Prioritize National Security and AI Adoption in Federal Policy,” 2025. https://www.maginative.com/article/palantir-urges-u-s-to-prioritize-national-security-and-ai-adoption-in-federal-policy/

1. IBTimes UK, “Amazon, Apple and Meta Donated Millions to Trump’s Ballroom Before Their Federal Investigations Were Quietly Dropped,” 2026. https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/corporate-donors-trump-ballroom-federal-contracts-1800963