The UK boss of tech firm Palantir has said it would be ‘irresponsible’ to scrap its NHS contract when it is delivering better care for thousands of patients.
Louis Mosley launched a robust defence of his under-fire firm after a report by a group of MPs called for the Government to cancel its £330million deal with the health service.
Palantir, a US artificial intelligence firm, has been developing a major new data platform for the NHS designed to bring together information from across the NHS so it can be better analysed and improve care.
But the company has come under attack by some MPs – particularly those on the hard-left – due to its work providing technology for US immigration enforcement and the Israeli military.
A report released yesterday by the science and technology committee said Palantir’s growing role in UK public services was ‘unacceptable’ and urged the Government to seek an alternative for the NHS.
Louis Mosley, the UK boss of tech firm Palantir, has said it would be ‘irresponsible’ to scrap its NHS contract when it is delivering better care for thousands of patients
The committee didn’t question that Palantir had delivered results, but asked whether other firms could deliver better value for money without the ideological baggage.
But Mr Mosley hit back, saying it was ‘frankly irresponsible’ for MPs to call for Palantir to be ditched without suggesting an alternative.
Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, he said he was ‘glad’ the committee accepted his firm ‘is delivering for the NHS’, but added that it was ‘very concerning then that they are calling for [Palantir’s contract] to be cancelled’.
Asked about the company’s values, Mosley said: ‘What people in this country – for the most part – value is, are those government services delivering?
‘Our software has helped, over the last two years, the NHS to deliver 110,000 operations that would not otherwise have happened. It is helping people up and down the country…
‘Now, would those MPs look their constituents in the eye and tell them that because of the way a different government in a far away country may be using the same software, they are going to have to accept that their operation is going to be delayed?’
Mosley also slammed MPs for failing to propose an alternative and pointed out that Palantir was awarded its NHS contract after a ‘fully open and competitive’ process involving ‘every tech company you can think of’.
He added: ‘At the end of that process we were found to be the best company to deliver on the requirements that the NHS needed…It was established by the NHS that there is no alternative.’
Palantir was co-founded in 2003 by libertarian billionaire and PayPal founder Peter Thiel (pictured), an outspoken critic of the NHS who gave more than $1million to the 2016 Trump presidential campaign
Official figures show since the new NHS data platform was introduced, an extra 110,000 operations have gone ahead, there has been a 15 per cent drop in discharge delays and a 6.8 per cent increase in cancer diagnoses made within 28 days.
Precisely what contribution Palantir has made to this improved performance is yet to be established, but several NHS hospitals have hailed its benefits.
Last week, the Mail reported that NHS insiders had warned that ditching Palantir would be a grave mistake.
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The row comes after Sir Sadiq Khan was accused of ‘putting politics over public safety’ after blocking a £50million deal between Palantir and the Metropolitan Police intended to help tackle gangs and kick out rogue officers.
Scotland Yard said the decision would likely lead to cuts in frontline policing.
Palantir, founded by the eccentric German-American entrepreneur Peter Thiel, has around £900million worth of UK public sector contracts, including with the Ministry of Defence, the Financial Conduct Authority, and other police forces.
It has become a lightning rod for left-wing MPs due to Thiel’s close association with Donald Trump, as well as the views of its chief executive and co-founder Alex Karp, who published a 22-point ‘anti-woke’ manifesto earlier this year.
