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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Technology
Josh Taylor Technology reporter

Calls grow to ban Palantir in Australia after manifesto described by UK MP as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’

Palantir Australia United States United Kingdom David Shoebridge AUSTRAC Donald Trump Ice Jessica Wilson
Logo of US tech company Palantir is seen in Davos, Switzerland, with two men with umbrellas in the foreground
Greens senator David Shoebridge said a blanket ban on new Australian government contracts with US tech company Palantir would be ‘sensible’, adding there was ‘zero clarity about what data [governments] are giving’. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Just weeks after it implied some cultures are inferior to others in a manifesto described by one UK MP as the “ramblings of a supervillain”, the US spy tech company Palantir says it is just “a software company” amid calls for Australian government agencies to ban any new contracts with the controversial company.

In Australia, state and federal contracts with Palantir have reached nearly $80m, and federal investment in the company is reportedly more than $160m.

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