Silicon Valley mastermind – Who’s behind Palantir's “Gotham” surveillance software? | DW Documentary
Palantir is considered one of the most opaque companies in the field of big data. The group’s software is used by government agencies and intelligence services worldwide. This film takes a look behind the scenes — at the tech company, and its CEO, Alex Karp.
Alongside Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Sam Altman, the CEO of Palantir is considered one of the most influential digital leaders. Like these better-known figures, US billionaire Alex Karp also stands to benefit from Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. After all, Palantir has close ties to US authorities and intelligence services.
In Germany, Karp is still relatively unknown. This, despite the fact that German police authorities also work with Palantir’s “Gotham” software. This successful yet controversial data analysis program specializes in bundling and visualizing large amounts of data for the purpose of information gathering and surveillance.
“Gotham” can create profiles of individuals worldwide, using digital data analysis. The software supports intelligence agencies, the military and police authorities in the fight against terrorism. However, its use is controversial: data protectionists in Germany fear that sensitive police data could find its way to the USA. In addition, co-founder Peter Thiel has caused a stir on several occasions in the past with anti-democratic statements.
The documentary provides exclusive insights into US entrepreneur Alex Karp and his mysterious and secretive company Palantir.
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Video “Silicon Valley mastermind – Who’s behind Palantir's “Gotham” surveillance software? | DW Documentary” was uploaded on 01/02/2026 by DW Documentary Youtube channel.