Coventry City Council has defended a £500,000-a-year artificial intelligence (AI) contract with US data company Palantir, which supplies technology to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Trade unions have said the deal raises ‘serious ethical questions’, while Coventry councillor Grace Lewis described the contract as ‘indefensible and heinous’.
A joint statement from Coventry City Council unions said: 'We would question the procurement process, particularly regarding the ethical considerations and accompanying risk assessments that led to the decision to spend £500,000 on an AI package from Palantir Foundry [a subsidiary of Palantir].
'Palantir AI is used extensively by the IDF in Israel in its surveillance and weapons targeting systems. It is used in the West Bank and, particularly, Gaza to target individuals.'
A council spokesperson said: ‘The contract with Palantir was awarded following our standard procurement and information governance procedures, and we are confident it meets our rigorous security and compliance requirements.’
