Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir

Part of Watson’s role at Palantir will be to ‘deepen the social and economic value its work creates through better British public services, jobs and skills’. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Another former government minister has been hired by a controversial US AI company, this time Palantir, which has appointed Andy Burnham’s former ministerial colleague Tom Watson.

The Labour peer and former deputy leader will operate alongside Palantir’s UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, as the company attempts to fend off pressure on Burnham’s government to axe its £330m NHS contract. It is also fighting Sadiq Khan in court over the Labour London mayor’s block on a £50m contract to use its AI in Metropolitan police investigations. Palantir also wants to win more public sector work in the UK, where it already has an annual turnover of £427m.