Who’s Writing the Code at Palantir?
Inside the workforce powering America’s surveillance stack... and why no one’s asking the right questions.
Palantir sponsored 78 foreign tech workers on H-1B visas in 2024.
This same company builds surveillance tools for DHS, the IRS, and ICE.
𝗜𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝟮𝟲𝟯 𝗛-𝟭𝗕 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Roughly half were hired into AI and software engineering roles.
Most people still think of Palantir as a shadowy “data company.”
But in 2024, it’s so much more than that. It’s the infrastructure layer for U.S. surveillance, embedded inside federal systems most Americans don’t realize are interconnected.
And it’s scaling, and pretty darn fast. Not just in contracts, but in who it hires to build it.
Here’s what matters:
Most H-1B visas go to Indian (72%) and Chinese (12%) nationals, per USCIS.
Palantir is embedding foreign talent into systems that access American tax, health, and immigration data.
What is the H-1B program?
The H-1B visa allows U.S. companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers for specialty occupations, often in tech and engineering.
It’s capped at 85,000 new visas per year. Companies must justify the role, salary, and demonstrate why they couldn’t hire a U.S. citizen.
For Palantir, each visa isn’t just a hire, it’s a deliberate bet on who writes the code that supports national systems.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁.
In a May 5 letter, 13 ex-staff condemned a $30M ICE deal, warning that Palantir’s software is now tracking migrant movement in near real-time. (letter linked below)
𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁.
Palantir says it’s just a data processor.
- $113M in federal contracts
- $795M awarded from the DoD
– AI tools now licensed to foreign militaries
- 2025 board meeting held in Tel Aviv
When a company like Palantir significantly increases technical hiring through H-1B sponsorships - especially for AI and infrastructure engineering roles… that’s not filler headcount at all. That’s a signal.
This often correlates with:
– Deepening client relationships (i.e. multi-agency federal work)
– Long-term system ownership (code that locks in future contracts)
– And critically: IP consolidation inside the firm
Investors tracking PLTR 0.00%↑ Palantir should be watching hiring velocity and role clustering as much as they watch earnings. Most don’t - but you should reach out to me for that workforce data and analysis.
The Scouring of the Shire: a letter from concerned Palantir
alumni to the tech workers of Silicon Valley https://t.co/js5oWsrB6Z
Palantir has just under 4,000 employees globally.
Palantir isn’t Google. It’s lean.
That makes every hire intentional, especially on the engineering side.
So when 263 H-1B roles are clustered in a company deeply embedded in American data infrastructure, you’re seeing a global workforce gain privileged access to localized, highly sensitive environments.
The real issue isn’t where someone is from. It’s what they’re granted access to, and how few people are in a position to monitor it.
And now it’s staffing sensitive U.S. systems with H-1B visa holders.
You can’t ignore the risk... even if the talent is brilliant.
This isn’t about blaming workers or where talent is from.
It’s about how power is structured.
Palantir is a private contractor, building the software that runs surveillance.. without checks, transparency, or friction.
𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹.
It’s dangerous because it’s unaccountable... and now it’s everywhere.
Foreign-staffed.
Globally entangled.
And the infrastructure is already live.
𝗡𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.. 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
Palantir has a lot of access, a lot of contracts, and a globally staffed engineering team.
That’s worth noticing.
I look at labor movement and hiring patterns for a living. And when a globally entangled private contractor is writing the code that runs tax systems, immigration tracking, and national defense ops… workforce matters.
We often talk about data ethics. But it’s time we also talk about hiring ethics in critical infrastructure. Because who’s hired… shapes what gets built.
Institutional investors are trained to evaluate Palantir based on contract wins, government relationships, and defense momentum.
But few dig into the composition of the workforce powering those wins.
If the talent building surveillance platforms is globally distributed, operating under shifting visa pressures, and working across jurisdictions, then Palantir’s true risk surface isn’t just cyber. It’s operational and reputational.
Governance, access control, insider risk… all of these are workforce-anchored, and largely outside public investor disclosures. It’s odd that this is overlooked like it is.
How this correlates with broader investments and assets is key… especially in sectors like aerospace, defense, and private aviation, where data sensitivity and physical movement intersect.
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