‘Hands Off Our NHS’: Anti-Palantir Protests Break Out in UK Over Deal With National Health Service
Key takeaways
- At 8 am local time, the group, around 80 people in total, crowded the entryway to the NHS Confed Expo in Manchester.
- Huddling under a line of trees to shelter from the pelting rain, the protesters held up signs that read, “Patients vs.
- The protest was organized by Pull the Plug, an activist group concerned about the societal impact of runaway AI development.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Joel Khalili/WIREDComment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Protesters wearing hospital gowns and wielding signs gathered outside a UK health care conference on Thursday to object to a deal between the country’s National Health Service and American software company Palantir.
At 8 am local time, the group, around 80 people in total, crowded the entryway to the NHS Confed Expo in Manchester. They wanted to appeal to NHS leadership to terminate a contract worth up to $440 million over concerns around national security, data privacy, and the company’s political affiliations. The contract, which includes access to Palantir’s data analytics and artificial intelligence services, is intended to run until 2031 but includes a break clause that permits the government to withdraw the agreement next February.
Huddling under a line of trees to shelter from the pelting rain, the protesters held up signs that read, “Patients vs. Palantir.” As conference attendees filtered past, some stopped to speak to the protesters, who chanted to the beat of a drum. “Hands off our NHS, hands off our health data,” they shouted. “Hey hey, ho ho, Palantir has got to go.”