What are the links of Palantir and the Spanish government?

MadridPalantir is a company known to all those who operate in the field of defense and artificial intelligence (AI). However, until now it has had little presence in public debate, despite being present in the United States and, according to consulted experts, having contracts with a good part of European governments. Also with the Spanish executive: the Ministry of Defense has at least two contracts with the Spanish subsidiary, which began to operate with a physical office in Spain in 2022, even though some reports already register activity since 2018.

The company, which is dedicated to processing all types of data and establishing decision-making methods based on AI, obtained a first public concession in the same year 2022, precisely the year it began to make itself known in the State, for a value of 256,200 euros. The contracting body was the Directorate of Economic Affairs of the Defense Staff and it was done through a negotiated procedure without prior publicity. In this regard, it is difficult to understand exactly what this public contract consists of. The description states that it is a "contracting of a proof of concept for a commercial solution for Intelligence fusion and analysis in the field of the armed forces intelligence system". That is, handling sensitive intelligence data for an indeterminate use.

to whom the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez,big tech, to whom the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has declared an ideological war.

The investigator of armed conflicts Alejandro Pozo, who, unlike the general public, has been studying Palantir for more than a decade, warns ARA about the opacity of this company's hiring by the Spanish government, since, sheltered by national security and defense, the executive avoids publicizing a large part of the information. "We know what they have wanted to communicate, but not what is in an extremely sensitive matter," says the researcher, who added that there may be more contracts without any publicity.

Strategic dependence

The company's star product for governments is Palantir Gotham, which is used for people tracking, defense, counter-terrorism, security (...). Genís Roca, a consultant and specialist in new technologies, summarizes what it is capable of as follows: based on data it collects from the population, it processes it and identifies behavioral patterns or specific groups. In other words, it is a product that, "by definition, has high strategic value", remarks Roca, since "Palantir is placed at the heart of defense now that everyone is talking about technological sovereignty". Thus, even though the number of contracts with the Spanish government is "incipient", he assures that the contracting is "significant". "We are not facing a massive deployment like the United Kingdom or the United States, but rather an entry into highly sensitive areas", concludes Genís Roca, adding that this type of company enters through security and intelligence and ends up becoming "critical infrastructures" for the State.

Pozo explains that what Palantir does for Spain is to prepare a platform for data analysis and intelligence analysis and, from there, facilitate decision-making based mainly on AI. A commission that generates a "problematic dependence on an external actor", since as it is a structural issue, a continuous link with the company is created for the needs of updating and maintaining the platform, especially when dealing with AI that is evolving very rapidly.

"One of the pillars of Spain's sovereignty is already being built by a United States company extremely linked to the American establishment and to the large investment funds of Vanguard and BlackRock, which, moreover, has a strategic military association with the Israeli army", explains Pozo, even though the Spanish government has decided to stop trading arms with Israel in response to the genocide in Gaza. Pozo himself, in a report by the Delàs Centre on State arms trade (2022-23), already highlighted that the company Palantir "has Israeli capital and special relations with its military apparatus", and that its products have been highly sought after in the war in the Strip.

Contracts also with large companies

Genís Roca also points out that this technology is also entering large companies. According to the data platform TheirStack, they use Palantir BBVA – to assess credit risk – Mahou San Miguel – would apply it in the supply chain – and Mutua Madrileña – for fraud detection –. "Are companies adopting Palantir for a specific efficiency, or are they redefining their operating model? What is the cost of exiting once processes are integrated?", Roca wonders, since, as with governments, this technology also creates strong dependencies in the private sphere.

Pozo adds that the fact that Palantir has created a Spanish subsidiary means they have an "expectation" of growth and that, more or less, they have already established contacts with state authorities. "For a long time now, on the one hand, companies with the excuse of providing certain services, and states, with the excuse of providing security, are crossing boundaries. Not everything goes, citizens' rights are threatened", summarizes consultant Genís Roca.