LONDON: British lawmakers called on Wednesday for the government to end a contract between the country’s National Health Service and AI giant Palantir, warning of an over-reliance on US data providers. “Palantir’s increasing presence across the public sector represents an unacceptable point of weakness,” the parliamentary committee said in a report.

Their conclusions were “not ideologically motivated or driven by concerns about the quality of their products,” it added. But “reliance on a small number of US-based providers represents a clear vulnerability” which could leave public services “at the mercy of foreign actors,” the report said.

Palantir was co-founded by Peter Thiel, a right-wing Silicon Valley billionaire close to US President Donald Trump, with support from America’s CIA overseas spying service.

It has notably worked with the US government to identify undocumented immigrants or targets in the US-Israel war on Iran. Campaign groups have warned the company’s products pose risks related to mass surveillance, infringements on individual freedoms and data protection.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026