Largest Dutch pension fund cuts ties with controversial tech firm Palantir
ABP, the Netherlands’ largest pension fund, has withdrawn from the controversial AI company Palantir, the Financieele Dagblad reported. Palantir is known to provide services to the American immigration service, ICE, and the Israeli army.
Six months ago, ABP still held €825 million in investments in Palantir. The pension fund for civil servants in the Netherlands has sold those shares, according to FD.
Palantir is globally renowned for its advanced AI data analysis software, which can combine colossal amounts of seemingly unrelated data such as online communications, DNA, fingerprints, financial transactions, travel records, contacts, and surveillance footage. The software is used by hundreds of intelligence and investigative services worldwide to track down all kinds of suspects. Amnesty International has warned multiple times that the use of Palintir’s software violates human rights.
The United States government has signed major contracts with Palantir since Donald Trump became president, Follow the Money previously reported. The immigration service ICE uses the software to track down, arrest, detain, and deport people who meet certain criteria. The Israeli army is also known to use the software in its incessant attacks on Palestinians. In August last year, the Volkskrant revealed that the Dutch police also used the controversial software.
A spokesperson for ABP told FD that it cannot comment on individual companies, but the fund aims to invest in a “socially responsible” manner. “ABP weighs risks, costs, and how sustainable and responsible an investment is when making decisions.”
Last year, the fund also stopped investing in Booking and Airbnb. The rental platforms rent out accommodations in illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.
