Palantir and Sadiq Khan Settle Police Contract Dispute

Palantir and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have ended their legal dispute over a blocked £50 million contract with the Metropolitan Police. The conflict began in June when Palantir sued the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) after Khan blocked a two-year deal for a unified operational analytics AI system.

Palantir initially claimed the contract was blocked due to objections regarding the company's values and ethics. Mopac countered these claims by accusing Palantir and the Metropolitan Police of coordinating to fix the procurement process. The resolution followed Palantir's hiring of former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson as a lobbyist.

In a joint statement, Palantir and Mopac clarified that the decision to block the contract was based on procurement rules and value for money rather than ethical concerns. Mopac acknowledged that previous spokesperson statements may have incorrectly suggested that an assessment of the company's values influenced the decision. A new procurement process for the police technology deal is now underway, with Mopac agreeing to treat Palantir fairly should the company submit a bid.