By Robert Booth
Publication Date: 2026-05-21 11:00:00
A £50m Met Police deal with controversial US technology company Palantir has been blocked by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, with City Hall citing a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules.
As the Guardian revealed last month, Scotland Yard was in talks about using Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations. But Khan intervened on Thursday to stop the flagship contract, which would have been Palantir’s largest contract in British policing to date.
The Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime (Mopac), which must approve contracts of this size, refused approval on the grounds that Scotland Yard only had serious contracts with one potential supplier, Palantir. Khan’s office also said that the Met was at risk of becoming dependent on Palantir’s technology and that the proposed deal “did not ensure or demonstrate value for money.”
His spokesman said Londoners only wanted public money paid to companies that “share our city’s values”.
There…
