Palestine solidarity campaigners and the Green Party have welcomed London mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to block a £50m ($67m) Metropolitan Police deal with Palantir, while warning that “smaller contracts are still in play”.
Khan blocked what would have been the US tech company’s biggest contract with UK police on Thursday, citing a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules.
The Met had been in talks to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, the Guardian reported.
Palantir already has contracts with the UK’s Ministry of Defence and the National Health Service (NHS). The company is implicated in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and occupation of the West Bank through a deal with the Israeli defence ministry and Israel’s use of its technology.
In February 2026, the Met police awarded Palantir a contract worth nearly £500,000 to use the company’s operating system as part of its professional services function. As part of the pilot, a Palantir AI tool is used to assess officers’ device data.
