Recent reports have revealed that since 2019 the government secretly signed three military contracts with notorious American tech firm Palantir, named after fantasy villain Sauron’s malevolent crystal ball. This has cost approximately $50 million to date. The bulk of the money was spent on Palantir’s Gotham AI-warfare software, and the government has also purchased several other Palantir products.
Gotham, described by Palantir as “powering the kill chain,” is used to manage data to better surveil and identify targets. It can be used in actual warfare, but it is also used for surveillance and policing at home. It is used by ICE to track immigrants for deportation raids, and has been deployed by Israel in Gaza to target airstrikes, a process known to dramatically increase civilian deaths. The other Palantir products purchased by the government also have nefarious uses.
It’s no surprise then that these revelations sparked a public outcry. The government defended itself. It called the contracts “legitimate” and claimed that they were only kept secret due to a software bug. But revealed documents prove that secrecy was intentional: the contracts were marked as “not for public disclosure.”
The government’s real reason for secrecy is to avoid a public relations disaster. The very fact of doing business with a company like Palantir is a blow to Canada’s image as a friendly defender of human rights. Palantir’s founder, Peter Thiel, is infamous for unhinged political rants in which he advocates for a libertarian tech-bro dystopia, and Palantir’s tech is used to violate human rights and even commit genocide.
Technologies like Gotham can only be used for one thing—wars abroad and repression at home. The ruling class will use these technologies to help Canada play its role in the western imperialist alliance. And, with class anger mounting, sooner or later they will be used to surveil and repress movements at home.
