ICE isn’t the only federal agency that has contracted with Palantir for data tracking and surveilling of immigrants — the Department of Health and Human Services is also using the tech company’s AI tools to target “gender ideology” and anything related to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a new report in Wired.
The health agency has been using the company’s software to screen grant applications and job descriptions since last March to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders around DEI and gender policies. Palantir, run by co-founder and CEO Alex Karp, raked in $35 million just from HHS alone, Wired reported.
Agency officials are reportedly using the AI tools to audit “existing grants and new grant applications” that come through the Administration for Children and Families, which is housed under HHS and oversees the foster care and adoption systems.
Palantir, which pulled in another $30 million from ICE to build a prototype immigration surveillance platform, recently reported 70% year-over-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Fortune — thanks in large part to the U.S. government. The Internal Revenue Service and Department of Defense also use the company’s software, according to CNBC.
Trump’s executive orders, issued on day one of his term last year, demanded that any policies, programs, contracts or grants that mention DEI be eliminated, and that no federal funds be allocated to “promote gender ideology.”
One of the organizations whose federal funds got slashed was The Trevor Project – the Trump administration pulled $25 million from the LGBTQ+ crisis support group, which offered services for gender-nonconforming youth who used the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave the organization a $45 million infusion at the end of last year, turning the support network’s fortunes around.
