European nations seek alternatives to Palantir amid growing digital sovereignty concerns

European Union member states, led by Germany and France, are stepping up efforts to develop native alternatives to software from US data-analytics giant Palantir Technologies Inc., as concerns grow over deep-seated public sector reliance on the company’s platform.

According to a report by Politico, when German and French security officials unveiled plans last month to build a “European sovereign digital infrastructure,” technology and defense sector experts on both sides of the Atlantic widely viewed the initiative as a direct move against Palantir.

Across Europe, an increasing number of government officials are seeking substitutes for the Denver-based firm, which has embedded its software into some of the continent’s most sensitive operational domains, ranging from local policing and global intelligence to national defense and public health networks.

However, severing ties with Palantir to achieve greater digital autonomy presents severe operational hurdles. The company’s tools have become deeply integrated into everyday administrative workflows, backed by a level of data-processing expertise that few domestic competitors can match.

Philippe Latombe, a French advocate for digital sovereignty, compared the stickiness of Palantir’s platform to “sugar in Coca-Cola,” noting that the firm’s entrenched position makes disengagement exceptionally difficult.

“Palantir is capable of processing massive amounts of data with great precision, and thanks to its experience, it has had the opportunity to refine its algorithms and adapt them to various use cases with numerous clients,” Latombe said.

Despite these entanglements, efforts to break away from Palantir are gaining traction across the continent. In Madrid, the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has instructed state-backed companies to exclude Palantir from future public procurement contracts. In Paris, France’s domestic intelligence agency, the Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure (DGSI), opted for French firm ChapsVision over the US provider.

In the UK, the next major test of this policy shift is expected in February 2027, when the Labour government will face a decision on whether to terminate a £330 million contract with Palantir for the National Health Service (NHS) Federated Data Platform.

Rivals exploit European pushback

The decision by French and German intelligence structures last month to select ChapsVision dealt a dual setback to Palantir’s leadership.

Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp reacted sharply to the sudden turn away from his company’s products, while insisting he was unconcerned by European competitors.

“There is an example of what doesn’t work. Its name is Europe,” Karp said.

Olivier Dellenbach, CEO of ChapsVision, told Politico that his firm was benefiting from what he described as a “visceral rejection of Palantir” in parts of Europe.

However, Dellenbach emphasized that he did not want ChapsVision to be viewed merely as an “anti-Palantir” substitute, arguing that digital sovereignty will remain an empty slogan unless European governments back it up with industrial policy.

“We need more public procurement,” Dellenbach said.

Meanwhile, other European defense contractors are seeing increased interest in their proprietary platforms. According to Patrick Moreau, one of the architects of a data solution developed by French aerospace and defense group Thales SA, military authorities in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Romania, the Netherlands, and Canada have expressed interest in the French Army’s Artemis AI system.

“They all want to be able to choose a sovereign solution compatible with NATO standards, as opposed to Palantir’s black box,” Moreau said.

Yet even officials advocating for domestic substitutes concede that the European market remains fragmented, with local vendors still lacking the scale and operational track record of their American counterpart.

Military entrenchment and political friction

The challenge of replacing Palantir is particularly acute in the defense sector. Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told Politico in recent months that the alliance possesses no viable operational alternative to Palantir’s battlefield artificial intelligence technology.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive capabilities, said Palantir’s platform has unmatched capacity to process vast arrays of satellite imagery to identify targets, recommend strike weaponry, calculate required ammunition quantities, and automatically generate replenishment orders.

“To my knowledge, Palantir has no real competitor today,” Vandier said in May.

This deep integration has fueled sharp political pushback from critics concerned about the company’s leadership and ideological stance. Aurélien Saintoul, a French lawmaker who authored a parliamentary report on foreign military dependencies, criticized the influence of Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel.

“Peter Thiel explains that the defense of freedom does not necessarily require democracy. He clearly puts technical tools at the service of his own political project, and here we are talking about technofascists,” Saintoul told Politico.

A spokesperson for Palantir, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed such characterizations as “absurd,” noting that similar accusations had recently been leveled against the firm by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Pointing to the company’s ongoing operational support for the Ukrainian armed forces, the spokesperson said: “We know which side we are on and who we stand with. Since our founding, the protection of privacy and civil liberties has been the foundation of how we conduct our work in both public and private sector institutions. Western politicians should think deeply about who the real enemy is and not become puppets of the Kremlin.”

Many of the company’s European critics maintain that the pushback is driven primarily by technological sovereignty rather than political ideology.

They argue that displacing Palantir from the continent’s security architecture is a necessary test case for broader technological independence. If European governments fail to replace a software provider, critics say, hopes of reducing reliance on US tech giants for underlying cloud infrastructure and hardware will prove unrealistic.

From crisis management to long-term contracts

Palantir established its presence in Europe long before the current boom in artificial intelligence, pursuing a growth strategy centered on deploying its software during national emergencies to demonstrate immediate value to governments.

In France, Palantir entered the market following the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris, as security services faced intense scrutiny over intelligence failures. The DGSI signed its initial contract with the data analytics firm in 2016.

A similar pattern unfolded in Germany, where Palantir’s first major deployment occurred in Frankfurt, the financial hub of the state of Hesse. In 2017, state police acquired Palantir’s Gotham platform, deploying it under the name hessenDATA as a core tool for connecting disparate data points in criminal investigations.

Germany remains deeply divided over the technology. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has pushed to expand Palantir’s footprint, introducing draft legislation intended to create a framework for broader federal use. However, the initiative has encountered resistance from coalition Social Democrats and senior security officials.

The same “crisis-to-contract” model was deployed in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Louis Mosley, head of Palantir’s UK operations, the firm’s relationship with the NHS began during the health crisis, when it offered data aggregation services for a nominal fee of £1.

By contrast, Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, phased out Palantir’s Gotham platform after using it from 2016 to 2021.

A Europol official stated that the agency’s decision was driven by practical considerations rather than ideology, noting that the platform was expensive, raised sovereignty concerns, and left the institution reliant on Palantir for technical updates.

The official questioned whether every public body requires a platform as comprehensive as Palantir’s: “[Palantir] is really good when you have massive amounts of data and want to connect everything. But that is not the case for us. In most cases, alternatives are close enough. If we used it, I am not sure our efficiency would increase significantly.”

Expanding footprint across defense and corporate sectors

Part of Palantir’s operational strategy in Europe has involved recruiting former officials from target government departments. Investigative outlet OpenDemocracy reported that Palantir hired four former UK Ministry of Defence officials prior to securing a £240 million contract with the department.

The company is currently expanding its defense footprint across the region. On July 1, Palantir’s Maven Smart System—originally developed for the US Department of Defense—achieved full operational status within NATO, securing authorization to run on the alliance’s classified networks to link command and control systems.

“I think this is a very important turning point for European defense,” Mosley said.

Palantir’s reach extends beyond government agencies into major European commercial enterprises. In 2015, aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE integrated Palantir’s Foundry platform as the foundation of its aviation data infrastructure. Automaker BMW AG, energy giant BP PLC, and German media group Axel Springer SE also utilize Foundry to manage operational data.

Even if European entities succeed in reducing their reliance on Palantir, the company’s deployment model—which pairs software with embedded technical personnel—is being widely replicated by major US technology firms competing in artificial intelligence.

On June 30, Amazon Web Services announced a $1 billion investment to establish a “Forward Deployed Engineering” division designed to embed engineering teams directly within client organizations. Days later, Microsoft Corp. unveiled a $2.5 billion plan to deploy 6,000 engineers and domain experts to customer sites. Both initiatives mirror the operational model pioneered by Palantir.

Whether European institutions can transition away from Palantir is now viewed as a benchmark for the continent’s broader digital policy.

Hannah Neumann, a German Green Party member of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, emphasized the political stakes of the debate.

“European public institutions cannot become dependent on software developed by a small circle of US tech billionaires with an uncertain political worldview,” Neumann said. “That would be like outsourcing part of the democratic state to a private intelligence service that is accountable neither to voters nor to parliament.”