NYC Public Hospitals End Palantir Contract After Surveillance Concerns Exposed

NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Mitchell Katz confirmed the city's public hospital system will not renew its $4 million Palantir data analytics contract when it expires in October. The decision follows Intercept reporting in February that exposed the hospital system's use of Palantir's software for automated scanning of patient health notes to improve Medicaid billing. Activists protested the partnership, citing Palantir's role in facilitating lethal airstrike targeting, surveillance of American citizens, and ICE deportation operations. Katz defended the collaboration by asserting an 'absolute firewall' between patient data and government customers like ICE. The contract termination signals growing resistance to dual-use surveillance technology in civilian institutions, even as Palantir's government contracts expand through Maven and other military programs.