On Thursday morning, six protesters were apprehended in New York City after they formed human chains outside Palantir Technologies’ Manhattan headquarters, effectively blocking access to the lobby.
The demonstration was organized by a group calling themselves Beyond Benefits Planets, Climate, and Privacy, which criticized data mining companies for, in their view, taking troubling actions. Activist Caroline Chouinard stated, “We’re disrupting Palantir’s business as usual because it doesn’t belong in NYC to create AI that strengthens fascism.” This, she said, was in reference to the group being detained shortly thereafter.
Law enforcement dismantled the protest about an hour later, and all six individuals were released by noon, according to reports.
Neither the New York Police Department nor Palantir provided comments regarding the incident.
This protest is part of a broader initiative against the company founded by Peter Thiel, which is known for collecting vast amounts of personal data, particularly for government clients. Another gathering was similarly held outside Palantir’s facility in Palo Alto.
Critics have expressed concerns over a recent $30 million contract awarded to Palantir by ICE to develop a dashboard for monitoring immigration-related activities. This contract was initially initiated under the Obama administration.
Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, has defended the company’s expanding role in defense and conveyed pride during a recent earnings call. Meanwhile, some Democratic lawmakers have raised alarms about Palantir’s practices, suggesting they might violate federal privacy laws by aggregating sensitive information about American citizens.
In response, Palantir has disputed the allegations, labeling them as baseless and pointing out that some claims were not adequately addressed by media reports.
