Palantir Technologies Watch posted an update
Palantir lobbied health minister Zubir Ahmed to consider extending its AI technology into GP records, the Guardian reports, citing WhatsApp messages. The company reportedly called joining primary and secondary care data “unarguable” and its software “ideal” for the task.
Why it mattersThe approach came in February, although GP records were expressly outside the scope of Palantir’s existing £330m NHS contract. Bringing them into the platform would widen the reach of AI across sensitive health data, with trust between patients and doctors at stake.
Discuss: Should NHS ministers consider linking GP and hospital records if it could improve care, or should patient trust and consent set a firmer limit?
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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Palantir Technologies Watch
Palantir Technologies Watch Update What changedThe Guardian says the WhatsApp messages and briefing document span July 2025 to March 2026. They include Palantir urging former health minister Zubir Ahmed to “get out ahead of” political opposition from doctors and other critics of the company.
The paper also reports that the company argued the NHS’s Federated Data Platform could deliver more benefits faster with ministerial backing. When the Conservative government announced the deal in 2023, it said GP data would not be part of the national platform.
Palantir told the Guardian that data sharing can improve the NHS, that its software allows NHS organisations to retain local control of data, and that decisions on rollout belong to government. The Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment, the paper says.
Sources and evidence
- Revealed: Palantir lobbied minister to stretch AI tools’ reach to NHS GP records - The Guardian: The Guardian reports that messages spanning July 2025 to March 2026 show Palantir urging former health minister Zubir Ahmed to anticipate political opposition to extending the company’s NHS platform to GP records; it also reports the company’s response and that the Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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