--- title: "Government Hires Controversial AI Company to Spy on “Known Populations”" description: "Bombshell reporting just revealed a massive database contract between ICE and Palantir, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars." date: "2025-04-16" modified: "2025-04-16" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/government-ice-palantir" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "palantir" - "surveillance" --- # Government Hires Controversial AI Company to Spy on “Known Populations” ![Bombshell reporting just revealed a massive database contract between ICE and Palantir, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.]() *\Image: El Salvador Press Presidency Office / Anadolu via Getty / Futurism\* What happens when you combine Palantir — the [not-at-all evil]() AI company named after the spying orbs from "The Lord of the Rings" — with an immigration agency that's disappearing US residents to a South American internment camp? The makings of one hell of a surveillance state, that's what. Bombshell [reporting by *404 Media* just revealed]() a massive contract between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Palantir, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Per *404*, the contract tasks Palantir with tweaking ICE's Investigative Case Management system (ICM) to allow for the "complete target analysis of known populations." It also assigns Palantir with ongoing maintenance duties for the massive database, which contains real-time tracking tools, visa records, and [data from other agencies]() including the FBI, CIA, DEA, and ATF. The ICM allows agents to sort people by "hundreds of highly specific categories," according to *404*, which [caught a glimpse]() of the database last week. These include physical traits like race, eye color, tattoos, administrative data like social security numbers, employment address, and bankruptcy filing, as well as port of entry and resident status, in addition to "hundreds more" criteria. It's part of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) [$96 million contract]() with Palantir, a five-year agreement signed back in 2022. The revelation comes as the DHS under Trump — of which ICE is an investigation arm — wages a brutal campaign of [disappearances]() and deportations against [greencard holders](), nonresidents with [work]() and [student visas](), and [foreign tourists](). Some, like permanent resident [Mahmoud Khalil]() or doctoral visa student [Rumeysa Öztürk](), have been snatched off the street by plainclothes DHS agents for expressing what Secretary of State [Marco Rubio calls]() "beliefs, statements, or associations" deemed to be "at odds" with US foreign policy interests. Hundreds of others have been grabbed and whisked away to an [El Salvadorian internment camp](), or to [ICE detention facilities]() in the US — leaving families and lawyers in the dark as to their whereabouts. The detentions and disappearances are speeding up to a nearly industrial scale, a feat made possible thanks to the participation of big tech companies like [Google](), [Amazon](), and [Palantir](). Last month, the ACLU of New Mexico [formally challenged]() the disappearance of 48 New Mexico residents — whose identities, location, conditions, or legal status were not disclosed by ICE. It's a dream come true for ICE Director Todd Lyons, who said he wants ICE to run "like \[Amazon\] Prime, but with human beings" at the [Border Security Expo last week](). Palantir, meanwhile, is living up that type of rhetoric, rolling out a [bus stop ad campaign]() declaring that "moment of reckoning has arrived for the West." "We built Palantir to ensure America's future, not to tinker at the margins," the ad reads. "On the factory floor, in the operating room, across the battlefield — we build to dominate." **More on Surveillance:** [*Google Is Helping Government Build an AI-Powered Border Surveillance System*]() ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()