--- title: "Palantir Is Stocking the Wildest Imaginable Item in Its Vending Machines" description: "Even the shadowy defense contractor Palantir is now offering its employees nicotine pouches in its vending machines." date: "2026-02-23" modified: "2026-02-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/health-medicine/palantir-nicotine-vending-machines" categories: - "Brain" - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" --- # Palantir Is Stocking the Wildest Imaginable Item in Its Vending Machines ![Even the shadowy defense contractor Palantir is now offering its employees nicotine pouches in its vending machines.]() *Kevin Mark via X* Cigarette smoking in the United States has [plummeted]() over the decades, [reaching an 80-year low]() in 2024. But nicotine, the highly addictive stimulant found in tobacco, has turned into a weird new trend, with wellness influencers now pushing it as a way to prepare for a hard workout — or even boost productivity at work, as [*Stat News* reports](). Even the shadowy defense contractor Palantir is now offering its employees nicotine pouches in its vending machines. Startups like Lucy Nicotine and Sesh are marketing to users as a way to remain alert or awake longer. That's despite the known health hazards of the stimulant, from its extremely addictive nature to higher blood pressure, which could put users at risk of heart attacks and strokes. Many of these products are also not authorized for sale by the Food and Drug Administration. As experts told *Stat*, the recreational use of nicotine pouches and gum, which were originally designed to help people quit smoking, could result in young people getting addicted in the first place, with the health risks greatly outweighing the benefits. Besides, nicotine's ability to boost productivity could be considerably overblown. Nicotine is "very unlikely to help the cognitive function of someone who is functioning at their normal capacity," Vanderbilt University psychiatry and pharmacology professor Paul Newhouse told *Stat*. That's not stopping brands on social media, where they're advertising nicotine products as enhancing productivity and performance. It's become a particular trend among tech workers, with [tins of Zyn oral nicotine pouches]() becoming a common sight on the desks of startup employees. In the case of Palantir, flavored packs of oral nicotine pouches were made available for free to employees and guests over the age of 21. "They were very productive, so I thought maybe there’s something here," AI-powered healthcare company CEO Alex Cohen [told the *Wall Street Journal*]() in December, referring to his firm's software engineers. "Then, I accidentally got addicted." Indeed, Silicon Valley's flirting with nicotine may soon turn into a wave of people who have no history of smoking getting hooked. "Individuals will often switch nicotine products," the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention cofounder Michael Fiore told the *WSJ*. "I suspect most of these tech workers aren’t users, so it could be causing addiction in a population that’s not currently using it." While smoking's long-term health effects are well known, newer styles of nicotine products could still be harmful, even beyond higher blood pressure. Particularly when it comes to oral nicotine pouches, the health implications are [still actively being investigated](), meaning that there's still a lot we don't know. Beyond anecdotal effects like a sharpened mind or improved concentration, the jury is also still out on whether nicotine can actually deliver on these fronts — or whether the brain is simply becoming addicted to a steady drip of dopamine. "I want to be clear, we can’t make any productivity claims," Maxwell Cunningham, founder of nicotine startup Sesh, told the *WSJ*. "But I do think it’s really interesting to see the types of people and industries that are using our product." **More on nicotine:** [*Horrendous Things Happen When You Quit Zyn Cold Turkey*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()