Sadiq Khan sparks row with Met after blocking £50m AI deal with Palantir (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 days ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

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Sadiq Khan has blocked a £50m Metropolitan police deal with the controversial US tech company Palantir, sparking a bitter row between the London mayor and Scotland Yard.

After the UK’s largest police force had agreed to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, Khan intervened, citing “serious concerns” about how the deal had been struck.

The mayor’s office said there had been a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules and said police had only seriously considered one supplier (Palantir).

But after the Guardian reported the decision, Scotland Yard criticised the block as “disappointing”, saying that without new technology it would have to cut officer numbers, which would in turn affect the force’s ability to keep London safe.

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[-] als 15 points 2 days ago

Wait, not giving an evil company £50 million means you have to fire police officers?

[-] Cort@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

Sounds like someone needs to get fired for breaking procurement rules at the very least

this post was submitted on 21 May 2026

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