Palantir and Sadiq Khan drop lawsuit over £50m Met police AI contract

Palantir and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which answers to London mayor Sadiq Khan, announced on Wednesday 14 October 2026 that they had withdrawn their allegations against each other. The move cancels a High Court trial that had been set for January.

At issue was a two-year, £50m contract for a system called unified operational analytics (UOA), which would let Scotland Yard use AI to process intelligence in criminal investigations. Khan intervened in May 2026 to stop the deal going to Palantir, and the US company sued MOPAC in June, alleging a serious breach of procurement rules.

A row over values

Palantir's work for the Israeli military and for the Trump administration's immigration enforcement had fuelled suspicion that the decision was ideological. Khan had earlier said Londoners wanted public money to go to firms that "share the values of our city". Louis Mosley, Palantir's head for the UK and Europe, accused the mayor of politicising procurement at the expense of public safety.

In a joint statement, MOPAC said its decision was not based on Palantir's values, ethics or wider press coverage of the firm. It acknowledged that reporting of a mayoral spokesperson's comments may have wrongly suggested otherwise, and said its review rested on statutory tests covering governance, affordability and value for money. Khan added that Palantir contributes significantly to jobs and investment in London.

A fresh tender for the contract is now running. MOPAC has agreed to treat Palantir fairly and equally if it bids, as it is expected to, though it is under no obligation to appoint the company. Each side will pay its own legal costs, no liability has been admitted and no damages have been paid.

Why it matters

The settlement comes about a month after Palantir hired former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson as a full-time lobbyist. The company had feared that if public bodies could reject it over objections to its leadership's values, its ability to operate in Britain would suffer. Palantir is also fighting to keep its £330m NHS data contract, which some MPs and campaigners want cancelled and handed to a less controversial supplier.