Palantir and London policing office end dispute over Met technology deal
Palantir and London mayor Sadiq Khan’s policing office have withdrawn their claims against each other, ending a legal dispute over a proposed £50m Metropolitan Police technology contract. The agreement means a High Court trial planned for January will not go ahead, and the parties say the decision to block the original deal was not based on Palantir’s values or ethics.
The two-year contract would have let the Met use Palantir’s software to process intelligence in criminal investigations. A new procurement process is under way, and Palantir may bid, but the policing office is not obliged to select it. Each side will pay its own legal costs; neither admitted liability, and no damages were paid. Palantir also faces opposition over its separate £330m NHS medical data contract.
- Palantir and Khan’s policing office have ended their legal dispute.
- The £50m Met contract will go through a new procurement process.
- Palantir may bid, but is not guaranteed the deal.
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The Metropolitan Police, often called the Met, is London’s police force. It uses technology to handle information gathered during criminal investigations, while the mayor’s policing office oversees the force and its budget.
Palantir is a US technology company that makes software for organising and analysing large amounts of information. A proposed contract would have allowed the Met to use its software for two years; a fresh process to choose a supplier is under way.
The dispute drew attention to how public bodies choose technology suppliers and the role of ethics in those decisions. Palantir has also faced criticism over a separate contract to provide services for NHS medical data.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The Met could reasonably argue that ending the dispute avoids further legal costs and delay while allowing a fresh procurement to assess which system best meets policing needs. Since neither side admitted liability and the original decision was not said to rest on Palantir’s values or ethics, the new process can be presented as a practical route to a decision on the contract’s merits.
The case against
Palantir could reasonably argue that withdrawing its claim leaves unresolved whether the original process treated it fairly, while the policing office’s withdrawal also leaves its decision without a court ruling. A £50m system for handling sensitive criminal intelligence warrants clear, publicly defensible procurement criteria, and a new process may not fully answer concerns about how the original decision was made.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Palantir and Sadiq Khan drop legal battle over Met contract”.