Read about Palantir's early days—from a Stanford University dorm to an investment from the CIA

Read about how one of Palantir's cofounders explains the company's founding

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale described the company's driving principle as fighting terrorism in a blog post marking its IPO. Lonsdale also said Palantir's software was developed with a keen focus on privacy, despite many allegations that it enables government surveillance.

Read about the day Palantir went public in 2020

After more than 15 years in business, Palantir held its initial public offering (IPO) via a direct listing—meaning the company didn't rely on underwriters to assess the initial trading price or stock value. Palantir's stock ended the day trading 31% higher than the reference price.

The concept for Palantir's key software came from PayPal's anti-fraud protocol

PayPal, which, like Palantir, was cofounded by Peter Thiel, developed the initial framework for Palantir's data-mining service to prevent financial crime. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Thiel realized the software could also enable government agencies to connect data and prevent similar terrorist attacks from occurring in the future.

Watch a rare early interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp

Prior to Palantir's public listing in 2020, CEO Alex Karp did not give many interviews. In a rare interview from 2009, Karp discussed the dominance of American technology, his academic background, and the founding idea of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as key players in aiding the fight against terrorism.

Read about Palantir's role in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Palantir developed Tiberius, a software service that supported the public-private partnership spearheaded by then-President Trump to roll out COVID-19 vaccines. The software tracked state-by-state vaccine allocations, as well as COVID-related hospitalizations.

Palantir's services allow both companies and the government to analyze complex data

There's a common misconception that Palantir buys, sells, and shares data, but Palantir insists it isn't a data broker. Rather, Palantir is more like a data analytics company that allows corporations and government agencies to combine messy, large, and often hard to access datasets to gather insights.

In 2020, Palantir moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Denver, CO

Despite being a famous tech startup synonymous with Silicon Valley, Palantir executives and cofounders have criticized tech founders for not taking a bigger role in upholding Western institutions and supporting American defense and intelligence work. That cultural tension is frequently cited as a motivating factor for the company's 2020 move to Denver, CO. In early 2026, the company announced another move to a suburb of Miami, FL.

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden once leaked documents suggesting Palantir had a role in alleged surveillance

After releasing documents detailing an NSA surveillance scheme named PRISM (which is also the name of a Palantir service), further documents show that Palantir's software enabled the expansion of the NSA's widest-reaching data programs, XKEYSCORE. Palantir has frequently denied claims of supporting government surveillance and has insisted that its software is designed to maintain "civil liberties," such as privacy.

Listen to a former Palantir employee's take on the company

Among other former Palantir employees who have spoken out against the company's role in aiding surveillance and in the American government, former content strategist Juan Sebastían Pinto is concerned that Palantir is creating a monopoly over artificial intelligence.

3 out of Palantir's 5 cofounders once served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Review

After Peter Thiel founded the conservative student newspaper, he remained involved and invested in the paper's success. Other Palantir cofounders, Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen, also both previously served as the paper's editor-in-chief.

Palantir's software is widely speculated to have enabled Osama bin Laden's assassination

While Palantir has never publicly confirmed the use of its software in the 2011 assassination, its technology is widely speculated to have been a critical aspect of the operation. However, Palantir executives have never denied the claim, either, and have frequently commented on the software's important role in defending Western civilizations from terrorism.

Since its founding, Palantir has refused to sell its software to China or Russia

In line with the founding principle of supporting Western institutions, Palantir has vowed to not share its technology with companies or government agencies in China and Russia—which Palantir frequently calls the West's largest threats.

After the October 7 attacks, Palantir took out a full-page New York Times ad supporting Israel

Palantir provides its software to the Israeli Defense Forces. Alex Karp has frequently said that while his company's support for Israel may be controversial, it's critical to support Western allies.

Listen to a conversation between two Palantir cofounders—Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale was an editor of the Stanford Review (which Peter Thiel founded), and Thiel became a mentor to Lonsdale. The two discussed shared sentiments about the importance of developing Palantir to maintain a largely American global order, as well as cultural revolutions.

Learn about Palantir CEO Alex Karp's background—including his history of social activism

Palantir has been criticized for its close proximity to conservative politics, including the company's partnership with ICE, cofounder Peter Thiel's long track record of large donations to Donald Trump's campaigns, and the company's support for Israel. But its leader, Alex Karp, is a self-proclaimed progressive with a PhD in social theory. For many, Karp's background and leadership are a paradox for Palantir.

Palantir's executives have become increasingly involved in American politics in recent years

Palantir's government contracts have steadily increased since Donald Trump was re-elected in 2024, moving from intelligence and defense to public health and assisting in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts.

A Palantir executive was named a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves, including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. The Army says their role in Detachment 201, also known as the Executive Innovation Corps, is to inspire other tech executives to consider how their work can support the US Army—without leaving their careers.

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp explain how ICE uses the company's services

Alex Karp is well-known for being outspoken both about his own beliefs and about the role of Palantir in protecting Western civilization. Karp has said that while supporting government institutions doesn't always mean supporting every policy or decision those institutions make, not allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to access Palantir's services would go against the company's central mission of supporting Western democracy.

Data analytics company Palantir's technology is part of a larger shift in modern warfare becoming increasingly technical.

In 'Lord of the Rings,' the 'palantír' is a magical stone that allows one to see virtually anything

The company Palantir's name was inspired by this J. R. R. Tolkien reference. In fact, it's one of several Peter Thiel-cofounded companies that have a nod to The Lord of the Rings for a name, including Valar Ventures and Mithril Capital.

In 2025, more than 10 former Palantir employees published a letter condemning the company's partnerships

Thirteen so-called "ex-Palantirians," condemned a $30M deal that gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement near real-time insights on migrants. The letter, named "The Scouring of the Shire" in a nod to "The Lord of the Rings," alleges that the company is violating its code of conduct by supporting this application of its service.

Learn more about Palantir's 'meritocracy fellowship'

In 2025, Palantir launched a fellowship program for high school graduates to bypass college and begin working at Palantir. The fellowship is positioned as an alternative to American universities, which Palantir leaders and cofounders frequently criticize, and offers students four months of paid training, seminars from business leaders, and return offers to top students.

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp's outlook for how AI will change the economy.

Listen to tech company Palantir's CEO Alex Karp discuss the threat of a surveillance state.

Read more about Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel's political beliefs and activity

At Stanford University, Thiel founded "The Stanford Review," a libertarian magazine dedicated to being against "political correctness." Since then, Thiel has railed against American universities as failing institutions, given lectures about the coming of the Antichrist, and donated money to high-profile political campaigns (including those of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance).

Read Palantir CEO Alex Karp's most recent shareholder letter

Alex Karp's latest shareholder letter details both the company's outlook and recent performance, but also provides insight into what leadership finds important more generally. In this letter, Karp addresses Palantir critics and external concerns about the use of Palantir's technology for government surveillance.

Learn more about Palantir's core products, Gotham and Foundry

Palantir's core products, Gotham and Foundry, are designed to help government agencies and businesses turn complex or messy datasets into usable information. Gotham is designed primarily for government clients and connects disparate data points into recommendations and analysis. Foundry is designed for enterprise users.

Palantir once investigated a cyberattack on the Dalai Lama's computer

In 2008, officials realized the Dalai Lama's email had been hacked after details of an event that hadn't been made public yet began circulating. Palantir's software was able to identify both the hack and the hacker network.

How venture capital firms came to be

The venture capital firm that kickstarted an industry.

7 angel investors funded Google in its early days

Entrepreneur Shaan Puri shares how seven strangers acted as Google’s earliest angel investors. The first gave Google $100K without even putting his equity agreement in writing. The investors on “Shark Tank” use their personal funds to support startups, but they’re often more predatory about terms than typical angels.

Visualize where the first batch of founders from the famous startup accelerator Y Combinator are now.

Cyan Banister, once homeless, was an angel investor in Uber, SpaceX, and DeepMind.

Your iPhone started with a Cold War secret

Silicon Valley wasn't supposed to happen. A stretch of California orchard land somehow became the place that built the modern world: chips, PCs, the internet, the smartphone, and now AI. But the real story isn't the garage myth. It's a series of contradictions hiding in plain sight.

Meet the investor running his life with AI

Daniel Ha is a venture capitalist who built a suite of AI agents to boost his productivity, both professionally and personally. At his VC firm, a troupe of agents gathers data on startups and analyzes it from competing perspectives to produce a confidence score. When his dad was diagnosed with cancer, Ha used an oncology-trained AI to help him understand the condition.

Y Combinator was founded in 2005 to bridge gaps between founders and investors

In one of Paul Graham’s essays on his website, he took the time to explain how and why he and his cofounders (including his girlfriend at the time, and now wife, Jessica Livingston), came up with the idea of and eventually created Y Combinator.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp is an avid skier

Karp takes health and fitness very seriously and reportedly skis more than five hours each week. He has frequently recommended Norwegian-style cardio training, which emphasizes the length of a workout rather than effort level. In 2023, Karp reported having just 7% body fat—similar to that of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps during the 2008 Olympics.

Learn how eight 'traitors' played an essential role in founding Silicon Valley

In the 1950s, William Shockley led the way in the semiconductor business. Everything changed in 1957, after eight of his engineers—whom he called the "Traitorous Eight"—left his company to start their own. Their company, named Fairchild Semiconductor, employed many future founders of major Silicon Valley companies. Today, the Traitorous Eight are considered among the founders of Silicon Valley.

One Facebook investor turned $500K into $1B

Peter Thiel was Facebook's first big investor. In 2004, he invested $500K into the social network, long before the company owned Instagram or renamed itself "Meta." In 2012, when he sold off most of his stake, he turned that initial $500K investment into more than $1B in cash.

ChatGPT was conceived over dinner at a Silicon Valley hotel.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called OpenAI 'the most capital-intensive startup in history'

As of 2024, Silicon Valley was set to spend $1T in the coming years building AI. As companies, including Google and Microsoft, fling billions at AI dreams, concerns are rising about whether that money will ever be recouped. To learn about the argument that there is an AI bubble—and that it could soon burst if AI doesn't prove its worth—read this article.

OpenAI helped kick-start an AI arms race in Silicon Valley

Led by CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI's mission is to "ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity" by making its products open to all users. In 2023, the $86B company behind the chatbot ChatGPT consisted of a for-profit arm under its nonprofit governing board.

The American Research and Development Corporation is considered the first modern VC firm

Best known for investing in companies that wanted to utilize some of the technology developed during World War II, the ARDC’s cofounders all held prestigious positions at places like MIT and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Sam Altman gave his first-ever startup pitch after dropping out of Stanford

He dropped out of Stanford to start Loopt, which sold in 2012 for $43.4M. You can watch his first-ever startup pitch in a video.

In 2023, venture capital firms invested $170B in over 15,000 US companies

That's a significant drop from 2022’s $242B, reflecting market uncertainty but continuing VC’s role in scaling transformative ideas. Rooted in early risk-sharing models, venture capital took off with firms like ARDC in 1946, later evolving into today’s influential players like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Legendary venture capitalist Peter Thiel once wrote that 'competition is for losers'

With Peter Thiel's "Monopoly Theory," the Founders Fund partner argued that investing in companies that create new categories, rather than those that compete with other businesses in existing ones, is a best practice in venture capital.

Venture capital is a type of financing that firms and funds use to invest in startups they believe have the potential for long-term growth

Household name companies such as Airbnb and Uber might not exist without venture capital, which is commonly referred to as "VC" for short.

Hear what Michael Burry thinks about the possibility of an AI bubble

Since his success shorting subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2008, Burry's positions have often become influential, sparking conversations on platforms like X. In 2025, Burry drew attention for betting against Nvidia and Palantir for being overvalued companies.

7 prominent investors rejected Airbnb in its early days

Airbnb is arguably known as one of the most successful startup stories of all time. But back in 2008, many prominent investors rejected their pitch when they went out to raise money—and Airbnb's founder still has the rejection emails to prove it.

One office park had an outsized role in the birth of Silicon Valley

Developed in 1951, Stanford Research Park was more than just a pioneering suburban office park. It would go on to catalyze Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem as a whole.

The history of Anthropic began with a break from OpenAI over safety concerns.