People vs Palantir in Palo Alto

Photos: Steve Chan, ProBonoPhoto
Please credit the photographer

On September 29, members of San Francisco peninsula activist groups were joined by community members to protest Palantir’s calls for global domination and the technology they build to do it.

The Palo Alto action featured a singalong led by the Raging Grannies. Menlo Park based activists The Wolves brought Banners and eye catching placards. Anti surveillance handmaidens topped with CCTV heads had drivers turnings heads at the stoplight.

Together they mobilized against artificial intelligence giant Palantir that has a track record of building AI tools for large-scale data collection and mass surveillance that threaten human rights.

Their protest came on the eve of a demonstration in San Francisco organized by the nation’s largest union of registered nurses National Nurses United (NNU) that drew an estimated 1500 participants. The actions in Palo Alto and San Francisco were both part of the People vs Palantir Global Week of Action. From September 28 to October 1, thousands of people across multiple continents are demanding that public institutions, hospitals, universities, and pension funds cancel their existing contracts and relationships with Palantir. The global action is organized by Purge Palantir, BDS Movement, American Friends Service Committee, National Nurses United and Healthcare Workers for a Free Palestine (UK).