Palantir Technologies, a data analytics and defense software company that has been criticized for its ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hosted an invite-only recruitment event in Upson Hall on March 2. The event required every participant to sign a non-disclosure agreement, present identification and leave their backpack at the front of the room in order to attend.
The private event was “coordinated with specific project teams,” according to a University spokesperson, and comprised approximately 30 students, according to a student attendee who was granted anonymity by The Sun due to legal concerns. More than five Cornell University Police Department officers were stationed in the hallway, moving in and out of a private room separate from the event.
Palantir Technologies is a Denver-based software company that specializes in data analytics for government and commercial clients. The company holds federal contracts worth billions of dollars, including a 10-year enterprise agreement with the U.S. Army valued at up to $10 billion.
Palantir currently holds a $30 million contract with ICE to develop a surveillance platform to assist with deportations, called ImmigrationOS. ImmigrationOS works toward “streamlining selection and apprehension operations of illegal aliens,” according to a report from the ICE Office of Acquisition Management. This software utilizes artificial intelligence and data mining to target, track and manage deportations with data from government databases.
The company’s flagship product, Gotham, which it describes as a “global decision-making” defense system, integrates data to identify patterns and connections between people, places and events, and is used across the U.S. intelligence community and Department of Defense for surveillance and monitoring.
Palantir's ICE contracts have drawn criticism from civil liberties organizations for “concerns about [the company’s] human rights record,” according to Amnesty International.
The Event
The attendee told The Sun that there were no disruptions during the event and described the session as a “couple engineers talking about their product.” The student also added that the event provided “swag” to students, had a slideshow about the company and a subsequent Q&A session.
During the event, students were split into groups based on which project teams they were a part of, according to the attendee. There were a “few” attendees who were not affiliated with project teams, the attendee added.
The attendee recalled hearing Cornell Custom Silicon Systems, Cornell Autonomous Drone, Cornell Data Science, Cornell Mars Rover and Cornell Rocketry as teams mentioned during the grouping.
A second student, who was granted anonymity by The Sun due to safety concerns, also wrote in a statement to The Sun that they first heard about the event through an email targeted to a project team that was sent in January, which was obtained by The Sun. The email appeared to be sent by a representative for Palantir.
When asked about the extent of coordination between Palantir and themselves for this event, Cornell Rocketry and Cornell Mars Rover responded separately with the same message.
“We were not contacted about this event nor have any information regarding other project teams' involvement with this event,” Cornell Rocketry and Cornell Mars Rover wrote in separate email statements to The Sun. “Whether or not [our] members were invited and attended on their own accord we cannot comment on.”
Cornell Autonomous Drone redirected The Sun’s questions to the Cornell Engineering Project Team director, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cornell Custom Silicon Systems and Cornell Data Science did not immediately respond to The Sun’s request for comment.
According to the first student, the event showcased Palantir’s Gaia map interface, a part of the Gotham operating system, which allows teams to communicate with each other while out in the field, according to its website.
The attendee also mentioned that during the event, “one of the recruiters said how he got an … email from a soldier in Afghanistan talking about how … one of their Palantir products saved them time or effort.”
The attendee told The Sun that there was no mention of Palantir’s contracts with ICE during the event.
Cornell alumni who now work at Palantir attended the event in addition to the recruiters, which the attendee described as the “only Cornell-specific part of it.” The alumni shared stories, answered questions about their work and discussed how they joined Palantir, according to the attendee.
The Invite
The second student initially heard about the recruitment event through an email sent to a project team in January. The email, which was obtained by The Sun, appeared to be sent from a representative for Palantir. In the email, the representative encouraged the project team to connect its members with them or to forward the event details to members at their discretion.
After the student expressed interest, the student received multiple follow-up emails which were sent and signed by Christine Wu, talent coordinator for Palantir, and CC’d Emily Waldman, tech recruiter for Palantir. The Sun obtained three of these emails.
On Feb. 12, the student received an email from Wu, with Waldman CC’d, thanking the student for expressing interest in attending the recruitment event and interviewing with the company. The student was then formally invited to the recruitment event on Feb. 24, when the same senders sent a follow-up email.
The Feb. 24 email mentioned that the location and timing for the recruitment event were still not finalized, and that Palantir would be offering an “accelerated interview process for select event attendees,” which would include a coding challenge, a virtual on-site interview and a final interview with the company’s hiring manager. The message ended with instructions on how students could formally join the guest list for the recruitment event and express interest in the accelerated interview process.
On Feb. 28, the student received another email from the same senders that confirmed the location and timing of the recruitment event, noted that attendees would be required to sign a linked NDA, provided a dress code and told attendees not to disclose event details with others.
“Please note: this is an invite-only event,” Wu wrote in the email. “Please don’t share these details with others as we have limited capacity.”
The NDA
The email sent to the student on Feb. 28 contained a mandatory NDA for students to sign as a requirement for attending the event, per a copy obtained by The Sun.
The NDA required students to “not remove any document, equipment or other materials from Company’s premises” and “not photograph, copy or otherwise record any information to which you may have access during your visit” under threat of "irreparable harm to Company for which damages are not an adequate remedy, and that Company shall be entitled to equitable relief, without the requirement of posting a bond, in addition to all other remedies available at law.”
The Sun asked the University whether Cornell Career Services was involved in coordinating this event, and asked about community concerns with ICE, the reasoning behind requiring identification and an NDA and the security presence at the event.
“Employers may choose to structure their campus recruiting events in a variety of ways — through Cornell Career Services, directly with a college or school or through project teams. The Palantir visit was always a private, invite-only event coordinated with specific project teams,” a University spokesperson wrote in response to The Sun’s questions.
The spokesperson did not address questions about the identification requirement, NDA or security presence.
Activists’ Response
Prior to the event, students, who called themselves the 333 Artist's Collective, posted flyers around campus linking to a website that criticized Palantir and “Cornell’s connections” with the company. The website contained anti-Palantir messaging, including comparisons to the Gestapo, as well as the names and faces of current and former Cornell students who work for Palantir.
“The company knows that its project of surveilling and murdering human beings can only exist because of the people who work there and the universities who train us, intellectually and morally, to choose to do so,” the website states.
In an email statement from 333 sent to The Sun, the members wrote that the website was created out of “a frustration with the campus culture around working for companies that contract with ICE and the Department of War.”
The members also noted that “many of [their] friends, family and community members have been heavily impacted by the recent ICE raids.”
The Palantir recruitment event followed a tech talk hosted on campus by defense technology firm Anduril on Feb. 19, which ended after approximately seven minutes when protesters held up signs and shouted at the presenters.
Anduril’s AI-based surveillance towers currently provide coverage across approximately 30% of the U.S. southern border and the company has been “proudly partnered” with U.S. Customs and Border Protection since 2019, according to the company’s website.
In its statement, the 333 members also explained why it chose to publish students’ names and photographs on the website.
“[We] wanted to remind people that they have the power to influence the hold that companies like Palantir & Anduril have over US citizens by fostering an environment where Palantir would not feel welcome recruiting from Cornell,” the 333 members wrote.
Palantir did not immediately respond to The Sun's request for comment.
Everett Chambala is a member of the Class of 2027 in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is a staff writer for the News department and can be reached at echambala@cornellsun.com.
