Spotlight on Peter Thiel, technology billionaire and founder of Palantir Technologies – the most controversial Californian data mining company, with deep ties to US intelligence services and military agencies – expected this weekend in Italy.
From March 15 to 18, Thiel will be in Rome for a series of lectures dedicated to the theme of the Antichrist. The founder of Palantir and a key figure in tech trumpism will participate in a closed-door event organized by the Vincenzo Gioberti Cultural Association. The initiative, which will bring together a selected audience of invitees, will bring the ultra-conservative magnate to the capital to discuss his interpretation of the crisis of Western civilization.
But the visit fits into a broader context of dialogues between the company founded by Thiel and European institutions, including Italy. Among contacts with the Ministry of Defense, collaborations in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors, Palantir seems to be moving within a network of relationships involving public institutions, companies, and academic environments.
Relations with Italy are currently mostly exploratory or linked to specific projects, but they are part of a broader European strategy of the software analysis company.
The Denver-based company led by Alex Karp has long been known for its work supporting national defense. For those who have never heard of it before, just consider that Palantir’s technology is used by the US border police, ICE, to detain migrants, as well as in military missions in Afghanistan. Palantir is also behind the Pentagon’s Maven system, used for real-time target identification and prioritization to support combat operations in Iran and Venezuela.
All the details.
PRESENCE IN ITALY STARTING FROM THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
Before the military sector, Palantir is already present in Italy in the healthcare field.
In October 2023, the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic signed an agreement with the software company led by Alex Karp. Specifically, the Generator RWD Research Center of the pope’s hospital will use Foundry, Palantir’s innovative operational platform, for large-scale management and processing of clinical data.
During the pandemic, both the United States and its allies relied on Palantir software for contact tracing and health data analysis. Therefore, the company is no stranger to creating software to manage, analyze, and protect data (including tools to help track terrorism suspects) and collaborates with healthcare institutions. Palantir had already supported the National Health Service (NHS) in England with its analytics software in managing ventilators and PPE to face the Covid pandemic.
Also in the same year, the controversial US tech company, in partnership with consulting firm Accenture, secured the largest IT contract in the history of the English National Health Service (NHS). The £330 million contract with the NHS concerned the creation of the Federated Data Platform (FDP), a platform to usher the NHS “into the digital era” according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FEDRIGONI GROUP
But Palantir’s collaborations do not end with the healthcare sector.
Last June, the American software company announced the signing of a multi-year partnership with the Verona-based Fedrigoni Group, a global leading producer of specialty papers for packaging. This strategic alliance aims to accelerate Fedrigoni’s digital transformation by leveraging Palantir’s advanced AI capabilities and innovative solutions, the statement indicated. Initially focused on stock optimization and demand forecasting, the partnership is now expanding to support the overall digital transformation goals of the Italian group.
CONTACTS WITH THE ITALIAN DEFENSE
And now we come to relations with the Italian Defense.
According to information emerging from institutional circles, the National Armaments Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reportedly sent an invitation to several companies, including Palantir, to submit proposals related to the use of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity, notes the daily Domani. The initiative is part of a framework of preliminary consultations with international technology operators.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS ON PALANTIR’S RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT
The possible penetration of the company founded by Peter Thiel has also attracted the attention of Italian politics in light of the entrepreneur’s upcoming arrival in the capital. Democratic Party deputy Andrea Casu, together with Giuseppe Provenzano, submitted a parliamentary question to request clarifications on any relations between the government and Thiel’s companies, starting with Palantir. Regarding Peter Thiel, Casu emphasizes “He is a figure defined as the ‘king of mass surveillance’ who has never hidden his desire to expand his influence also in European countries.”
The parliamentary question from the PD was joined by a request for clarification from Elisabetta Piccolotti of the Alliance Greens and Left, who raised questions about any institutional meetings planned during Thiel’s visit to Italy. “In a few days Peter Thiel will arrive in Italy and neither the Government nor Giorgia Meloni have yet answered a very simple question: will the Prime Minister or other ministers meet him or not? Faced with such a delicate issue, the Government continues to remain silent, without clarifying whether institutional meetings are planned or if there are ongoing negotiations between Italian institutions and Palantir, Thiel’s company.”
“These are not far-fetched hypotheses: Palantir,” continues the red-green deputy, “is one of the most powerful companies in the world in data analysis for governments and security apparatuses, to which even the American defense has ceded part of its intelligence services. Added to this is another intolerable fact: for weeks several parliamentary questions about the relationship between the Italian state and Palantir have gone unanswered. We are talking about the possible management of public databases, from health records to tax and cadastral information.”
CONTRACTS AWARDED BY THE ITALIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE TO PALANTIR
In fact, searching the Ministry of Defense website shows that contracts are already active with Palantir.
The first that emerges from the Palazzo Baracchini site dates back to 2015: the Directorate of Informatics, Telematics and Advanced Technologies (Teledife), part of the technical-administrative area of the Defense Administration responsible for the acquisition and management of telematic, IT, and technological systems for the Italian Armed Forces, approved the acquisition of the hardware and software system from Palantir Technologies Inc. (USA) valued at 1 million euros, for a total of 1,324,920 euros.
Then we come to May 26, 2021 when Teledife awarded Palantir Italia Srl a contract worth 148,000 euros for the provision of new functionalities for the Palantir Program. Also in 2021, contracts with Palantir Italia Srl for the “Palantir” program appear, the first for 434,998 euros and the second for 99,998 euros.
THE FIGURES OF PALANTIR ITALIA SRL
Palantir Italia srl is a company 100% controlled by the American Palantir International Inc.
The company’s board is chaired by Attilio Rotondi and composed of Indian Aishwarya Nair (CEO), residing in the UK, and American Hsin Yi Monica Wu (born in Taiwan). The Rome-based company has 5 employees.
The company recorded revenues of 1.2 million euros in 2024, down from 1.9 million euros in 2023. Profits also halved to 45,000 euros (compared to 82,000 euros the previous year). Production costs stood at 1.9 million euros. In 2024, however, the company halved its debt: from 1.2 million euros in 2023 to 655,000 euros in 2024.
The financial statement notes specify that the “item Revenues from sales and services includes service performances deriving from contracts with the public administration for 138,950 euros and revenues for services provided to the parent company Palantir Technologies Inc., for a total amount of 1,278,391 euros, in relation to contractual relationships with the Palantir group.”
TIES WITH NATO AND BEYOND
All this while Palantir Technologies has strengthened its presence in Europe with institutional and military agreements.
The company founded by Thiel signed a partnership with the British Ministry of Defense for the use of its technologies in the military sector and boasts also a multi-year agreement with the French internal intelligence (DGSI).
Last year it obtained contracts with NATO in the field of artificial intelligence. On April 15, 2025, the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) announced that it had completed the acquisition of the Palantir Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO) at the end of March. NATO declared it intends to use Maven to accelerate the adoption of new artificial intelligence solutions, including models and simulations under development in its 32 member states. The NCIA note highlights that the acquisition of MSS NATO was one of the fastest in the Alliance’s history, requiring only six months from defining requirements to system acquisition.
Peter Thiel’s Roman chapter thus arrives while relations between Palantir and European institutions continue to expand, and Italy appears among the countries where the presence of the data analysis company is already documented by contracts, collaborations, and institutional dialogues.
