Palantir’sdebut on the public marketearlier today reap different responses from different people . Some veterans in Silicon Valleyclaimedthat its program line to investor are screen with exaggerations and hype meant to blot out the party ’s less - than - stellar tech . critic in the technical school privacy arena , meanwhile , sounded alarmsover the idea of the company ’s public filing , look at how Palantir ’s own chief operating officer haspublicly statedits products have been used to “ kill people . ”
Now , that pushback is being reverberate on Capitol Hill . A letter treat to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton by Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio - Cortez and Jesús G. “ Chuy ” García issues several pages worth of warning that detail what Palantir might be omitting — and what Clayton might be overlook — in the company ’s mission to go public .
“ Palantir report several pieces of data about its company — and leave out others — that we believe need further disclosure and examination , ” they publish in the letter , which was in the beginning sent to SEC in the beginning this calendar month before being made public today . The letter go bad on to note that theS-1 documentthat Palantir ab initio filedlast monthas part of its public offer seems to gloss over “ substantial risks ” and “ home security concerns ” that should probably be flagged for potential investors , employee , and the public .
Photo: Tom Williams-Pool (Getty Images)
( Disclosure : Peter Thiel , who co - ground Palantir , in secret funded a lawsuit that resulted in the failure of Gizmodo ’s former parent companionship , Gawker Media . )
To sum it up : The pair is largely ask for more information about the company ’s bodied structure , as well as grow concern about work the company has been tapped to do in region where human rights ill-usage are common .
First , as the letter points out , there ’s no citation ofCIA - backedventure Das Kapital house In - Q - Tel anywhere in Palantir ’s S-1 , despite the house ostensibly being a major actor that help Palantir farm the finances call for to go public in the first place . Anarchived versionof the In - Q - Tel web site testify that way back in the bygone earned run average of 2005 , the firm describe pouring an unrevealed sum of money into Palantir ’s pockets . Three years later , documentsthat Palantir file with the SEC describe In - Q - Tel and its affiliates as “ beneficial owners ” for Palantir because they control at least 10 % of the company ’s securities . In the years since , information fromIn - Q - Tel ’s pageon Crunchbase lists Palantir as get $ 550 million from the business firm . Considering how that ’s consanguine to hundreds of millions of dollars from the CIA , Ocasio - Cortez and García rightfully point out that this is a kinship that “ can and should ” be fully reported out as part of the filing .
The pair also calls out Palantir ’s omission of its study with strange Union officials , peculiarly in regions with a spotty track platter on the human right front . Considering how gung - ho the society has proven itself to be when it comes to abetting thewidespread surveillanceof immigrant at the U.S.-Mexico margin , it ’s not backbreaking to imagine what that tech could be capable of when put in the hands of a more authoritarian regime . In picky , the letter mentions Palantir ’s ongoing relationship with official in Qatar , despite the realm being under scrutiny by the likes ofAmnesty Internationalfor its inhumane treatment of migratory workers , refugees , and LGBTQ people .
apart from ask for more clarification on Palantir ’s federal ties here and abroad , the letter also take note concern about one of the company’slatest additionsto its gameboard , Alex Moore . Moore , whom Palantir presents as an “ self-governing ” control panel mamber , was literallythe first employeethat Palantir ever hired , finally rising the ranks and becoming managing director of operations . This , along with the Palantir ’s bill on its S-1 filing that Moore has some tilt with how certain appendage of his posse put down their shares—“including with respect to the election of directors”—should be enough to raise a few eyebrow , accord to the letter . And that ’s before you start looking at the other five members Palantir presently has on its display board :
Palantir ’s current board of theater director is not comprise of a majority of independent director , which is a requirement for listing on the NYSE that must be meet within one year of listing . Of the six board fellow member , three are co - founders who between them will exercise good - complete command of the society by virtue of a multi - class share structure , while a fourth , Alexander Moore , was Palantir ’s first employee and Director of Operations from 2005 to 2010 .
There are other concerns that Ocasio - Cortez and García upgrade here away from the apparent human right issues and a not - so - independent board . Notably , the Department of Health and Human Servicessigned offon a deal with Palantir back in May as a mode to expedite the country ’s recovery from the covid-19 crisis . The HHS deal , which was worth roughly $ 25 million , drewcriticismfrom lawmakers at the clock time who mention that “ the public does not have sex what safeguards HHS has put in property to protect their data point ” and that “ the HHS has failed to partake , among other point , what data goes into the system of rules , how it can be used , or with whom it can be share . ”
In short : There ’s a lot of cause for concern about this exceptional company going public . Ocasio - Cortez and García do n’t seem to have convince the SEC to blockade Palantir from get into the public market , but there ’s a fortune it could still investigate the company on any one of these legion concerning fronts . Read the full memo below :
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