Spain Orders Blacklist of Palantir from Public and Private Companies

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• Hacker News
• [dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48748392
  by ChrisArchitect
• I find it unbelievable that the current chief of Nato (Rutte) is basically an extension of Palantir. He is making sure countries are signing contracts with this extreme company that on pair with the Nazi ideology. They would support mass extermination camps. You probably think this is over exaggerated. But no its not. This company is evil.
  by holoduke
• You're out of your mind -- and politically radicalized -- if you think that Palantir is on part with the Nazis. And this kind of facile comparison is offensively trivializing those who died in the holocaust.
  by loeber
• Pretty sure he would do unspeakable things if it meant getting a pat on the head, and a Good Boy, from the real head of nato.
  by CrzyLngPwd
• Get rid of this pestilence! Fark Palantir
  by madhacker
• For context: The former Spanish president in the socialist party is being investigated with corruption activities related with Venezuela, happening in the years after he quit the presidency. It is not looking good for him.

  On Mars 2026, US Homeland Security played a prominent role in providing sensible info that lead to the prosecution. Apparently they obtained that info after spying on a phone from [person of interest] in Venezuela.

  Helping Spain to expose corruption is a good thing of course, but when who does it is, what could be the biggest stronghold of MAGA in US government, we can suspect that they don't do this out of sheer generosity. Trump keeps saying that "is not happy" with Spain, and this corruption scandal greases the path to power for the Spanish equivalent to MAGA party on the forthcoming 2027 elections so... hum

  Palantir could be, or not be, related with the leak. In any case blocking it just right now, by the socialist party, would be the logical reaction if they are involved.

  by pvaldes
• Every country needs to do this now
  by localdeclan
• Alex Karp is clearly off his rocker. This is a good move.
  by sjsdaiuasgdia
• He cannot stop talking about murdering people.
  by one33seven
• Anything short of declaring them a proscribed organization is insufficient.
  by Devasta
• Look, this is not a bad thing per se, but the US reaction will tell you everything you need to know.
  by chinathrow
• Someday, the US will be just a bubble where no other country gives their data to. We continue this decent into fascism to the point that nobody likes us.. or values us. Is this their idea of Utopia?
  by Fairburn
• Its what the US wants, and honestly at this point we should just completely cordon off the US from the rest of the world and give it to them.
  by protocolture
• Unfortunately, yes. The American right has looked at Russia as a model for what they want America to be for some time.
  by RIMR
• Larry Ellison: « We are always glad to help ! »
  by lolive
• [… Plus the fact that I need another boat!]
  by lolive
• sad to see usage of this word. blocklist is easy to write.
  by arielpts
• I mean.. just take a minute and listen to the CEO. The guy is having a hard time time. Clearly out of touch imo.

  https://youtu.be/0A3sGymV6kY

  by gervwyk
• Interview is gold, he is right.
  by karl11
• yeah, he seems to have the same issue a lot of these guys have. i’m convinced we’re going to find out at some point they’re all on some kind of modern meth type drug that entirely breaks their reality. the similarities between so many of their shifts are too striking.
  by toofy
• > The firm holds a €16.5 million contract signed in 2023 with the Armed Forces Intelligence Center (CIFAS), which is scheduled to expire this upcoming November.

  > Military leadership, including the Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Navy, has lobbied Defense Minister Margarita Robles to renew the contract, citing the platform's operational superiority.

  Palantir wins contracts because they are better at what they do. If Europe wants to maintain digital sovereignty while not being left behind they need to have a heart-to-heart conversation about how to fix that.

  by bpodgursky
• clearly not better if they cant win a spanish contract?
  by 8note
• why not simply make it illegal? why make it a ban specific to one company, are they trying to make their own copy?
  by NooneAtAll3
• They didn't ban any company, they just ordered public services and public companies not to use what has been classified as a security risk.

  Anybody here think that Palantir is not a security risk for Spain?

  by RobertoG
• Palantir is profoundly untrusted in Europe in part because of Alex Karp. He is viewed as a dangerous neo-nationalist (not incorrectly).

  Never really sure why Anduril doesn't catch the same grief; they are maybe even creepier. Perhaps Palmer Luckey is just a less visible obvious Bond villain crackpot.

  by dofm
• Unfortunately this order will probably be revoked in 2027/2028, we'll see.
  by gus_
• It is possible and this in particular is a decision that I'm sure the US will pressure the government to reverse. However, it's misguided to see the entire world through the US political lens where reversing policy decisions is seen as a free win by the voting base. Spain's current democracy is only about fifty years old and extremism is viewed very negatively so outright undoing is generally less common then gradual undermining.
  by munk-a
• Great news for Spain. I hope more European countries wake up to what's going on.
  by emsign
• Not sure how much good it will do overall but it's good to see not everyone is blind and/or naive.
  by hexorcist404
• The Spanish government trusting the CCP over Palantir is wild.

  The CCP's intolerant, cruel and authoritarian nature is a direct threat to humanity in ways that Peter Thiel could barely imagine in his darkest dreams.

  The lack of perspective on show here is astonishing. They are destroying trust with vital Western allies -- trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets -- and Lurch and his dodgy friends are clearly out of their element.

  by somelamer567