Tech giant Palantir posts ‘otherworldly’ growth despite criticism over Gaza

Second-quarter gross jumped 93 percent but Palantir’s ties to Israel and relation successful subject exertion are controversial.

United States artificial quality and information analytics elephantine Palantir Technologies has reported “otherworldly” quarterly results, sending its shares much than 14 percent higher successful after-hours trading, arsenic its maturation shows nary signs of slowing contempt mounting criticism implicit its adjacent ties to the US and Israeli governments and concerns astir its increasing relation successful artificial quality and warfare.

Palantir Technologies reported a gross of $1.94bn for the 2nd quarter, up 93 percent from a twelvemonth earlier, and raised its forecast yearly gross to betwixt $8.15bn and $8.158bn, up from $7.65bn to $7.662bn earlier. It said beardown request from some commercialized customers and authorities agencies drove the surge.

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“This 4th was otherworldly: our US commercialized gross grew 149 percent year-over-year, our wide gross grew 93 percent year-over-year,” Chief Executive Alex Karp said. “Demand for AI sovereignty has present been unleashed.”

In a missive to shareholders, Karp wrote: “Our concern is compounding astatine a complaint and standard that we person ne'er earlier witnessed.”

Palantir holds multibillion-dollar contracts with US authorities agencies, including the US Army. Revenue from its US authorities concern roseate 90 percent twelvemonth connected twelvemonth to $809m, adjacent arsenic the institution has faced increasing absorption implicit its relation successful President Donald Trump’s migration crackdown, which critics accidental has resulted successful unlawful deportations and killings.

Founded successful 2003 by exertion entrepreneurs including Karp and multi-billionaire Peter Thiel, Palantir opened its archetypal bureau successful Israel successful 2015 and has since expanded its enactment with the Israeli military.

Following what Palantir described arsenic a “strategic partnership” with Israel successful January 2024, the institution importantly expanded its operations supporting Israel’s subject run successful Gaza and operations successful the occupied West Bank.

According to Open Intel, a level tracking firm engagement successful the genocidal warfare connected Gaza, Palantir has actively recruited erstwhile members of Israel’s elite Unit 8200 cyberintelligence division. The radical says Palantir’s bundle integrates intercepted communications, outer imagery and different datasets to assistance make subject targeting lists for Israeli forces.

In a connection to Al Jazeera earlier this year, Palantir UK reiterated the company’s enactment for Israel.

The institution has besides secured large contracts with the United Kingdom’s government. In January, the UK’s Ministry of Defence awarded Palantir a $323m (240-million-pound) contract. A abstracted $444m (330-million-pound) NHS declaration awarded successful November 2023 has besides attracted criticism, with campaigners raising concerns astir the handling of delicate wellness information and the dense redaction of declaration documents.

Palantir has besides faced scrutiny implicit its imaginativeness for the aboriginal of artificial intelligence. In The Technological Republic, a caller publication co-authored by Karp and the company’s caput of firm affairs, Nicholas W Zamiska, the authors reason that exertion companies person a work to physique precocious subject AI capabilities. Critics person described the doctrine arsenic a signifier of “techno-fascism”.

Al Jazeera has contacted Palantir for comment.