Around 80 protesters gathered outside a major UK health care conference in Manchester on June 11, 2026, calling on the National Health Service to terminate its contract with American data analytics company Palantir. Demonstrators in hospital gowns crowded the entrance of the NHS ConfedExpo, chanting “Hands off our NHS, hands off our health data” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Palantir has got to go.”
The protest targeted a contract worth up to $440 million that covers Palantir’s data analytics and artificial intelligence services. The agreement, intended to run until 2031, tasks Palantir with aggregating and analyzing NHS data through a “federated data platform” aimed at reducing wait times and cutting waste. The contract includes a break clause allowing the government to withdraw as early as next February.
Protesters cited concerns over national security, data privacy, and Palantir’s political affiliations — including its work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Israeli military. “Palantir should be kicked out of the NHS, forthwith,” said John, an NHS nurse who attended the protest. Some demonstrators waved Palestinian flags to signal opposition to Palantir’s ties to Israel.
The demonstration was organized by Pull the Plug, an activist group focused on AI’s societal impact, and was attended by Amnesty International and Unison, a trade union representing health care workers. “We want ordinary people to get a say in how AI is used in our lives,” said Frieda Lurken, cofounder of Pull the Plug.
The UK government began working with Palantir in 2020 to track Covid-19. The relationship has since drawn scrutiny, including over 2023 comments by Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel, who suggested the NHS should be dismantled and rebuilt from scratch. Palantir has denied being guided by any particular political ideology.
Questions also surround the platform’s effectiveness. The NHS division responsible for Greater Manchester has declined to adopt Palantir’s system, stating its in-house software delivers significantly better results. Palantir did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: WIRED