Britain's financial regulator defends Palantir contract award before lawmakers 

Palantir, which won a contract to supply AI systems to ‌Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority, will not have access to regulatory intelligence, ​an FCA official said

​U.S. data analytics firm Palantir, which won a contract to supply AI systems to ‌Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority, will not have access to regulatory intelligence, ​an FCA official said on Tuesday, as the deal ⁠came under criticism from lawmakers.

Palantir Technologies, co-founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire venture capitalist and early supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, won a 12-week contract to analyse the FCA’s internal ‌data to help combat financial crime.

Lawmakers on the parliamentary Treasury committee, however, raised their concerns with FCA officials, including Chief Executive Nikhil ‌Rathi, over the company’s potential access to sensitive regulatory data.

“The other ‌concern ⁠is that they become ubiquitous across government,” Conservative lawmaker John Glen ⁠said. “Is there anything that can be done to ensure they don’t become a monopoly?”

Palantir has also secured contracts with Britain’s Ministry of Defence and National Health Service.

Jessica Rusu, the FCA’s chief ​data, information and intelligence officer, said ‌the procurement process had been conducted “blind”, meaning the regulator did not know the identity of the winning bidder until it concluded.