Internal Palantir documents detail a plan to deepen its ties to the UK's NHS by buying up smaller rivals, helping avoid scrutiny and increase health data
Palantir Technologies had a secret plan to deepen its relationship with the UK's National Health Service without public scrutiny. Tweets: @oliviasolon , @parismarx , @xtophercook , @hkanji , @einsteinsattic , @oliviasolon , @oliviasolon , @sam_dumitriu , @mikarv , @foxglovelegal , @subiectiv , and @_nyancrimew Tweets: Olivia Solon / @oliviasolon : NEW: Palantir planned to buy its way in to the NHS by acquiring small companies on the condition they used Palantir's Foundry data-mining software https://www.bloomberg.com/... Paris Marx / @parismarx : People should take note of the lobbying push Palantir participated in to ensure government and the NHS didn't build its own tech, but instead bought it from private companies (like Palantir). This is one of the sly ways tech aids the ongoing privatization of public healthcare. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Chris Cook / @xtophercook : This plan does not show evidence of Palantir having applied its ~formidable analytical capability~ to an NHS organogram. https://twitter.com/... Hussein Kanji / @hkanji : This is just smart business. Why is it painted as evil? https://twitter.com/... Phil Booth / @einsteinsattic : Instead, in March 2020, @PalantirTech was awarded this £1 contract by @NHSEngland*... https://cdn-prod.opendemocracy.net/ ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Olivia Solon / @oliviasolon : Palantir's spokesman said that some of the language from Mosley's email was “regrettable” and “not an accurate characterization of our relationship with the NHS.” https://www.bloomberg.com/... Olivia Solon / @oliviasolon : In an email titled “buying our way in” Palantir's UK head Louis Mosley said this approach would “take a lot of ground and take down a lot of political resistance.” https://www.bloomberg.com/... Sam Dumitriu / @sam_dumitriu : This software would help the NHS but people have unfounded fears about privacy so we should do something harder and likely worse. https://twitter.com/... Michael Veale / @mikarv : Devestating scoop from Olivia as she blazes back to the UK tech beat. Palantir also sought to go via @techUK, a lobby group long trying to be the face of tech ethics with the UK Government, to stop gov building their own data linkage tech, and instead become reliant on Foundry. https://twitter.com/... @foxglovelegal : It's not over. Palantir is now bidding for a HUGE £360m contract to manage NHS health records. But 50+ groups in our No Palantir alliance - & MPs from @DawnButlerBrent to @DavidDavisMP - agree: companies that help harm people don't belong in the NHS. (*Dr Thiel pic AI-generated) https://twitter.com/... Alex / @subiectiv : So Thiel's got my personal data and now he wants more https://twitter.com/... Maia Arson Crimew / @_nyancrimew : palantir is literally just a bunch of apache big data projects cobbled together with a pretty dashboard https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This document leak lands mid-arc in a years-long fight over who controls NHS data infrastructure. Palantir had already been positioning for the £360M contract to underpin NHS operations, while doctors and privacy campaigners warned about its likely win of the £480M federated data platform. The internal emails now show how it planned to get there: acquiring smaller companies on the condition they adopt Foundry, and using trade body TechUK to push the NHS away from building in-house data linkage.
First-order effects
- Palantir faces immediate reputational damage in the UK just as the NHS is scrutinizing its conduct — following the earlier probe into whether its influencer campaign breached contract terms — giving campaigners like Foxglove Legal fresh evidence that its NHS relationship was engineered to avoid public scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- Small UK health-data firms become wary acquisition targets: being bought by Palantir now carries the risk of being folded into a strategy the NHS and Parliament may treat as a red flag, chilling consolidation around Foundry.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, government procurement rules will need to account for vendors structuring acquisitions and lobbying to create dependency before contracts are competitively awarded — extending the scrutiny already raised by investigations into Palantir's European public-agency work.
The trend: Public-health data platforms are consolidating around a few state-compatible vendors whose procurement influence grows through acquisition and lobbying rather than open competition.