Sadiq Khan sparks row with Met after blocking £50m AI deal with Palantir
2026-05-21 · AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
London Mayor Sadiq Khan killed a £50m deal that would've let the Met Police use Palantir's AI to automate criminal intelligence analysis, sparking a full-blown political row with Scotland Yard. Turns out handing mass surveillance AI to police from a company whose name literally comes from Tolkien's all-seeing orbs raises some concerns. The Met is now publicly whining that the mayor's decision is 'disappointing' — because nothing says trustworthy policing like begging for controversial American spy tech.