Palantir Sues Former Engineers Over Rival AI Startup Plot

Palantir Technologies Sues Former Engineers Over Rival AI Startup Plot

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: October 31, 2025

Key Takeaways

Palantir is suing two former engineers by alleging they used company secrets to help build a competing AI startup, Percepta;
The company claims the ex-employees had access to sensitive data, including software code and healthcare demos, while still at Palantir;
Palantir accuses one engineer of sending internal files to herself and says the pair concealed their new venture plans after resigning.

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Palantir Technologies has filed a federal lawsuit accusing two former employees of misusing company information to help build a competing artificial intelligence (AI) business.

The lawsuit targets Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen, both former senior engineers at Palantir. It claimed they left the company and then secretly worked to develop an AI startup called Percepta.

This new venture is backed by investment firm General Catalyst and, according to Palantir, offers services similar to its own.

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Palantir argued that Jain and Cohen had access to important internal material while employed, including software code, healthcare demos, customer processes, and sales methods.

The complaint also stated that Jain and Cohen failed to inform Palantir about their plans after resigning. Instead of signing standard exit paperwork, they allegedly avoided sharing where they were headed next.

Palantir specifically accused Cohen of sending herself private company files using Slack one day after giving notice. The company said she later opened these files on her personal phone.

The documents reportedly included a healthcare project diagram and a demo setup.

In court documents, Palantir claimed both individuals misled the company and took actions that gave Percepta an unfair head start. The lawsuit warned that this could allow Percepta to save time and money by using Palantir’s work rather than building its own tools from scratch.

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