Prominent tech investor Paul Graham has criticized Palantir Technologies Inc. over a software contract it recently won from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Graham shared an article about the contract in a Thursday post on X. He wrote that “it’s a very exciting time in tech right now. If you’re a first-rate programmer, there are a huge number of other places you can go work rather than at the company building the infrastructure of the police state.”

Palantir launched in 2003 with an initial focus on providing software to the U.S. defense and intelligence communities. The company has since established a significant presence in the private sector, but continues to generate a sizable portion of its revenue from government contracts. Palantir’s public sector business accounted for $343 million of the $828 million in revenue it posted last quarter.

The company has reportedly been an ICE contractor since 2011. Palantir’s work with the agency entered the spotlight last Thursday when Wired revealed that the software maker had won a $30 million contract to build a system dubbed ImmigrationOS. This project was the focus of Graham’s X post.

ImmigrationOS will perform three main tasks, according to Wired. The first is helping ICE choose whom to deport. The platform’s two other core features will reportedly “streamline” individuals’ removal from the U.S. and ease the task of tracking self-deportations.

ICE’s contract with Palantir to build the software will run through September 2027. The company is expected to deliver a prototype version of the software by Sept. 25, 2025.

The X post in which Graham criticized the project drew a response from Ted Mabrey, the global head of Palantir’s commercial business. The business provides products that private sector organizations use for tasks such as software development and data analytics. “I am looking forward to the next set of hires that decided to apply to Palantir after reading your post. Please don’t delete it Paul,” Mabrey wrote.

Graham responded by writing that “I’ll be happy to delete it if you commit publicly on behalf of Palantir not to build things that help the government violate the US constitution.” Mabrey called the offer “bad faith” in his reply and added that “we have made this promise so many ways from Sunday.”

Prior to ImmigrationOS, Palantir reportedly developed a “case management system” for ICE. The latter software enables agents to find information about individuals. According to Wired, Palantir developed the case management system through a 2022 contract that was originally worth $17 million and has since seen five budget increases.

Photo: Cory Doctorow/Flickr