Palantir has drawn scrutiny for supplying systems that public agencies use to integrate and analyze data about people’s lives, from health to security and economic administration.

In June, Reuters reported that Britain was reviewing its £330 million NHS contract over concerns about confidentiality, public trust, and dependence on a U.S. supplier, alongside reported improvements in waiting lists and hospital discharges. In May 2025, The New York Times reported that Palantir engineers were organizing IRS taxpayer data using Foundry. Last year, the Washington Post also documented Palantir’s expanding military and immigration enforcement work.

Yet Palantir’s everyday reach remains narrower than Microsoft’s, Google’s, or Meta’s. For decades, Microsoft and Google have served people worldwide, across languages, with tools for education, communication, and office work. They have become part of the infrastructure of daily life.

Less clear is these companies’ intent to become integral to citizens’ institutional lives through government itself. For the past 120 days, I have followed Google’s footprint across several of Brazil’s 26 states. São Paulo, for instance, is roughly the size of Oregon. Its preliminary 2025 GDP, converted at the annual average exchange rate, would place it 15th among U.S. state economies, behind Virginia and Michigan.

I selected three states for comparison: São Paulo, Paraná, and Mato Grosso. 5 billion in agricultural production value in 2024. 7 billion. Google provides infrastructure and information services for these state governments.

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