By Robert Booth
Publication Date: 2026-05-21 17:53:00
It’s called Bot vs. Bobby. The row over whether controversial US AI company Palantir should receive £50m to help the Metropolitan Police goes to the heart of how public services will be delivered in the coming years.
A similar dynamic is playing out in hospitals, schools and city halls, but currently police chiefs are turning to AI to avoid a financial bind. Britain’s largest police force is shrinking; A funding deficit of £125m means 1,150 jobs will have to be axed. Scotland Yard wants to use AI to deploy Palantir’s systems to search human intelligence reports, email caches, phone records and the rest of the flood of digital evidence trails left by 21st century crime.
The implication is clear: AI is now seen as a plausible alternative to at least some of the human work in policing and is on its way to becoming a mainstay of the national security apparatus. Human police officers deal with some of society’s most vulnerable people, but also with some of the most sensitive data and…