Palantir Sues Former Engineers Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft for AI Startup

Palantir Sues Ex-Engineers Over Plans to Launch 'Copycat' AI Startup - Decrypt

General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja has publicly admitted earlier that the venture capital firm was creating "a version" of Palantir's business. Palantir Technologies has filed a federal lawsuit against two former senior engineers, alleging they used stolen trade secrets to launch a "copycat" AI integration company that directly competes with the data analytics giant's core business. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, seeks to block Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen from continuing a "months-long charade of deception and unfair competition," as Palantir alleges they violated contractual obligations by building Percepta, an AI transformation startup owned by venture capital giant General Catalyst. The complaint claims the engineers were entrusted with Palantir's "crown jewels," including source code, internal healthcare demonstration workspaces, deployed customer workflows, and proprietary customer engagement strategies representing billions of dollars in investment. Jain, who helped design Palantir's flagship AIP Logic, resigned in November 2024, and Cohen, a Healthcare Lead who built AI solutions for major clients, left in February. Both allegedly kept their new employer secret, refused to sign separation agreements, and left their LinkedIn profiles unchanged for months, according to the lawsuit. Palantir alleges that the day after giving notice, Cohen sent herself highly confidential Palantir documents via Slack, including a healthcare revenue cycle diagram, an internal demo framework, and a draft statement of work, and later accessed them on her personal phone. "They lied about their plans when they resigned, Cohen stole Palantir's confidential documents and information on her way out the door, and they both hid their competitive misconduct for months," the filing notes. Percepta emerged from stealth mode in October, with a business model mirroring Palantir's and a team composed of nearly half former Palantir employees, including co-founder Hirsh Jain. During a Forbes interview, General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja acknowledged Palantir's value and said his company was working on creating "a version" of Palantir's business. The lawsuit warns that in the hands of a competitor, the stolen documents could be used to "shortcut over a decade of Palantir's research" and "evade millions of dollars in investment costs." Palantir claims Percepta could "replicate its most effective demonstrations" and leverage stolen insights to win clients, "irreparably harming" its market position. The defendants were paid "millions of dollars of compensation" in exchange for non-competition agreements barring them from competing for 12 months, non-solicitation clauses lasting 24 months, and confidentiality obligations, the company claims. Palantir recently secured a contract with the U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion over the next decade and won a $30 million contract to build ImmigrationOS for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At The Information's WTF Summit on Wednesday, Lisa Gordon, Palantir's head of global communications, said that the company's shift toward the Trump administration is "concerning." "I think it's going to be challenging, as a lot of the company is moving pro-Trum-, you know, is moving in a certain direction," Gordon said, stopping herself mid-word, according to a CNBC report

Palantir Sues Ex-Employees Over Alleged Theft Of AI Secrets, Claims 'Copycat' Startup Used Its 'Crown Jewels' - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) has filed a lawsuit against two former employees, alleging they carried out a scheme of deceit and theft to support the creation of a rival AI firm. Former Employees Launch 'Copycat' Firm The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the Southern District of New York. The defendants, Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen, are alleged to have violated their non-competition agreements by working on a "copycat" business, Percepta, owned by venture-capital firm General Catalyst. Palantir also alleges that Cohen stole a collection of highly confidential documents before his departure. The company also claims that the two former employees had access to its "crown jewels" -- such as its source code, internal workspace, and customer workflows -- which were all safeguarded under non-compete and confidentiality agreements. "Jain and Cohen weaponized their insider knowledge to harm Palantir by passing off Palantir's efforts as their own," the company stated in its complaint. See Also: Jim Cramer Says Apple Bears 'Owe Us An Explanation' After Q4 Report, Dan Ives Calls Earnings 'Pound-The-Table Moment' For The Stock Tech Giants Locked In Trade Secret Wars This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles over alleged trade secret theft in the tech industry. In August, Elon Musk's xAI filed a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets and taking them to rival firm OpenAI. In July 2023, Twitter (Now X) accused Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) of stealing trade secrets for its rival social media app Threads; however, it did not file a lawsuit on the same. Meanwhile, Palantir has emerged as a leading AI player with prestigious federal contracts. Legendary investor and AI advocate, Cathie Wood, recently touted the company as a "secret weapon" amid concerns of a potential AI bubble. Palantir holds a momentum rating of 97.74% and a growth rating of 95.99%, according to Benzinga's Proprietary Edge Rankings. The Benzinga Growth metric evaluates a stock's historical earnings and revenue expansion across multiple timeframes, prioritizing both long-term trends and recent performance. Check the detailed report here. Price Action: On a year-to-date basis, Palantir stock has surged 158.74% to close at $194.55 on Thursday, as per data from Benzinga Pro. READ NEXT: Palantir Technologies Stock Hits A New All-Time High: What's Going On? Image via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. METAMeta Platforms Inc$676.441.50%OverviewPLTRPalantir Technologies Inc$198.261.91%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Palantir sues former engineers for stealing trade secrets to launch rival By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Palantir Technologies has filed a lawsuit against two former senior artificial intelligence engineers, accusing them of stealing confidential documents and information to create a competing company called Percepta. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court against Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen, who previously held positions that gave them access to what Palantir describes as its "crown jewels," including source code that represents billions of dollars in investment. According to the legal filing, Jain and Cohen allegedly used Palantir's confidential information, proprietary methodologies, and customer relationships to develop a "copycat" version of Palantir's technology. The company claims the former employees violated their contractual obligations, with their actions only recently coming to light after their new business emerged from stealth mode. Palantir alleges that Jain, a co-founder of Percepta, was bound by a non-competition agreement while claiming to have developed in eleven months what took Palantir decades to create. A subsequent forensic investigation by Palantir reportedly uncovered theft of confidential materials. The lawsuit states that Jain was responsible for designing and building Palantir's flagship software, while Cohen worked directly with some of Palantir's largest customers to configure AI software solutions. Their positions gave them access to Palantir's source code, internal healthcare demonstration workspace, customer workflows, and proprietary customer engagement strategies. Palantir describes itself as having invested billions of dollars to develop its market-leading AI platform that helps organizations integrate artificial intelligence into their operational workflows. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.