This weekend, a heated debate erupted between prominent tech figures regarding Palantir’s controversial partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Following reports that ICE is paying Palantir approximately $30 million to develop a platform known as the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System (ImmigrationOS), intended to enhance ICE’s ability to plan deportations and monitor self-deportations in near real-time, tensions flared publicly.
Paul Graham, a renowned co-founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, sharply criticized Palantir’s association with ICE. In public comments online, Graham suggested that talented programmers have far better career options than working for a firm he characterized as “building the infrastructure of the police state.”
In response, Palantir’s Global Head of Commercial, Ted Mabrey, vigorously defended the company’s stance, emphasizing the gravity and societal importance of its work. While Mabrey avoided confirming specific details about the ImmigrationOS project, he stressed Palantir’s longstanding relationship with the Department of Homeland Security, referencing “Operation Fallen Hero,” initiated after the murder of Agent Jaime Zapata by the Zetas cartel. He framed the company’s work within a broader moral context, stating, “When people are alive because of what you built, and others are dead because what you built was not yet good enough, you develop a very different perspective on the meaning of your work.”
Mabrey equated Graham’s statements to earlier controversies surrounding Google’s Project Maven, a military collaboration analyzing drone surveillance footage that sparked internal protests and eventually led Google to withdraw from defense-related projects—although the search giant has since moderated its stance and resumed defense collaborations.
To those considering careers at Palantir, Mabrey recommended CEO Alexander Karp’s recent book, “The Technological Republic,” which argues for renewed cooperation and dialogue between technology companies and governmental agencies. Palantir has notably ramped up recruitment efforts on elite college campuses, using bold messaging that declares “a moment of reckoning has arrived for the West.”
“We hire believers,” Mabrey continued, highlighting the company’s vision-driven culture as essential to enduring intense public scrutiny. “Not homogeneity of belief, but the intrinsic capacity to believe in something bigger than yourself,” he said.
Pushing for accountability, Graham directly challenged Mabrey and Palantir leadership to publicly promise that their work would never help the government violate constitutional rights. Graham later acknowledged that such a pledge would carry no legal weight but expressed hope that a public declaration might empower individual employees confronted with questionable tasks.
Mabrey responded dismissively to Graham’s challenge, likening the question to a legal maneuver designed to entrap, but asserted that Palantir’s ethical commitments had been clearly demonstrated repeatedly. He contended that the company’s large workforce operates daily with a sincere conviction in the positive impact of their technologies.
