Palantir’s Israel contracts prompt $24M Storebrand divestment over rights concerns
Palantir’s Israel contracts prompt $24M Storebrand divestment over rights concerns
Nordic asset manager drops holdings, citing ethical risks tied to Palantir’s surveillance technology.
One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the U.S. data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.
Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."
The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters.
A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April.
The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models.
Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.
Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday.
Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.
Karp revealed earlier this year that some of the company’s employees have left in recent months due to his public support for Israel in its war against Hamas. “We’ve lost employees. I’m sure we’ll lose employees,” Karp said in an interview with CNBC’s “Money Movers.” “If you have a position that does not cost you ever to lose an employee, it’s not a position.” “From my perspective, it’s not just about Israel,” added Karp, who co-founded Palantir alongside venture capitalists Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale. “It’s like, ‘Do you believe in the West? Do you believe the West has created a superior way of living?’”
Palantir and Karp have been steadfast in their support of Israel since the Hamas attack, both publicly and technologically. In January it announced that it had agreed a strategic partnership with the Israel Ministry of Defense to “supply Palantir technology to help the country’s war effort.” The agreement followed a visit by Palantir executives to Israel, with the company holding its first board meeting of 2024 in Tel Aviv.
