One of the founders of startup accelerator Y Combinator offered unsparing criticism this weekend of the controversial data analytics company Palantir, leading a company executive to push back with an extensive defense of Palantir’s work.
### Palantir’s Work with ICE
The back-and-forth came after federal filings showed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is paying Palantir $30 million to create the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, or ImmigrationOS, to help ICE decide who to target for deportation.
### Response from Palantir
Palantir’s global head of commercial Ted Mabrey defended the company’s work with ICE, highlighting their collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security in response to specific incidents.
### Ethical Concerns and Commitments
There were discussions around ethical concerns and commitments regarding the use of Palantir’s technology in government operations, with calls for public commitments to uphold constitutional rights.
Overall, the debate surrounding Palantir’s immigration surveillance work raises important questions about the intersection of technology and government operations.
