r/ukpolitics • u/LeadingPiece9608 Welcome To Burnmingham • 11h ago
Sadiq Khan forced to back down in row over Palantir’s ‘values’
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/sadiq-khan-palantir-contract-mayor-london-mr7jcngn7•
u/LeadingPiece9608 Welcome To Burnmingham 11h ago
The mayor of London agreed to retender the £50m AI deal with the Metropolitan Police and to praise the US company after settling a costly legal battle
The mayor of London has been forced to row back on claims that the American tech giant Palantir should not be given public sector contracts in the capital because of its controversial work in the United States and Israel.
Lord Khan of Tooting vetoed a £50 million pound deal between Palantir and the Metropolitan Police to use artificial intelligence to automate intelligence gathering. His spokeswoman said at the time that Khan had “concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values”.
Palantir sued the mayor’s office for policing and crime (Mopac), claiming that Khan had made an illegal “politicised decision” to veto the contract, in breach of procurement laws.
Palantir has been widely criticised for its contracts with the Israeli Defence Forces as well as immigration enforcement in the United States.
Khan initially defended the case, which is believed to have cost the taxpayer up to £3.3m, but agreed on Wednesday to settle with Palantir and admit that his office had “incorrectly created the impression” that an assessment of the company’s values had been a factor in his decision to block the contract.
He also agreed to put out a statement praising the company, saying that it had made a “significant contribution to jobs and investment in the capital”.
Khan’s lawyers had agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of the court case, having tried to block them. Sarah Brown, Khan’s former director of communications, who now works for Andy Burnham was also due to have her correspondence searched. This will now not happen.
In a joint statement, Palantir and Mopac said that both sides had “withdrawn their allegations against each other”.
“Mopac recognises Palantir’s concerns that media reporting of a statement from the mayor’s spokesperson before the decision was taken could have incorrectly created the impression that an assessment of the company’s values had been a factor in that decision,” the statement said.
“Mopac’s consideration was based upon its statutory role of examining spend proposals, against the appropriate legal tests and the relevant guidance on procurement, governance, affordability and ensuring value for money for Londoners and in doing so it focused on the available information at the time. Mopac is happy to correct any contrary impression.”
Khan said: “London is the technology capital of Europe, and I am proud that leading software firms choose the city as their home. Palantir makes a significant contribution to jobs and investment in the capital, employing a large number of Londoners whose services have been procured legally by organisations across the UK and beyond.”
The proposed two-year deal would have allowed Palantir, which works for the Israeli military and the Trump administration in its immigration crackdown, to provide AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations.
The contract will now be retendered, and Palantir will be allowed to participate. A secondary contract Palantir has with the independent Office for Police Conduct has been rolled over for another year.
The settlement is a victory for the Met, which was keen to work with Palantir. Sir Mark Rowley, the commissioner, said that the company’s technology could enable police to “catch people who pose a threat to the public and our own people at a pace that simply isn’t possible without it”.
At the time the contract was cancelled he said it would result in taking between 500 and 700 officers out of frontline service to make up for the lack of capacity.
Oliver Wright, Policy Editor
Wednesday October 14 2026, 5.47pm, The Times
•
u/Optimaldeath 11h ago
Figured there must have been a trade for those AI models, wonder if this was the cost?
I hope it was worth the inevitable realisation that we'll never be able to not give them tenders now.
•
u/AutoModerator 11h ago
Snapshot of Sadiq Khan forced to back down in row over Palantir’s ‘values’ submitted by LeadingPiece9608:
An archived version can be found here or here. or here
If the above links don't work, try this one.
Some publications may require you to register a free account to read their articles.
Being connected to a VPN may interfere with archive links.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.