Palantir Sues Ex-Engineers Over Plans to Launch ‘Copycat’ AI Startup

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 competes directly with the data analytics giant’s core business.

U processfiled Thursday in Manhattan federal court seeks to block Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen from continuing a “month-long charade of deception and unfair competition,” as Palantir says they breached contractual obligations by building Percepta, an AI processing startup owned by venture capital giant General Catalyst.

The complaint alleges that engineers were entrusted with Palantir’s “crown jewels,” including source code, internal health demonstration workspaces, implemented customer workflows, and proprietary customer engagement strategies representing billions of dollars in investments.

Jain, who helped design Palantir’s flagship AIP Logic, resigned in November 2024, and Cohen, a healthcare leader who built AI solutions for major clients, left in February.

Both allegedly kept their new employer a secret, refused to sign separation agreements, and left their LinkedIn profiles unchanged for months, according to the lawsuit.

Palantir claims that the day after giving the notice, Cohen sent highly confidential Palantir documents via Slack, including a diagram of the health care revenue cycle, an internal demo framework and a draft statement of work, and then accessed them on his personal phone.

“They lied about their plans when they resigned, Cohen stole Palantir’s confidential documents and information along the way, and both hid their competitive misconduct for months,” the document notes.

Percepta emerged from stealth mode in October, with a business model that mirrors Palantir and a team made up of nearly half of Palantir’s former employees, including co-founder Hirsh Jain.

During a Forbes interviewGeneral Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja recognized Palantir’s value and said his company was working to create “a version” of Palantir’s business.

The lawsuit warns that in the hands of a competitor, the stolen documents could be used to “shortcut more than a decade of Palantir’s research” and “evade millions of dollars in investment costs.”

Palantir claims that Percepta could “replicate its most effective demonstrations” and leverage stolen insights to win customers, “irreparably damaging” its market position.

The defendants were paid “millions of dollars in compensation” in exchange for non-compete 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 US military worth $10 billion over the next decade and won a $30 million contract to build ImmigrationOS for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

At The Information’s WTF Summit on Wednesday, Lisa Gordon, Palantir’s head of global communications, said the company’s shift toward the Trump administration is “worrying.”

“I think it’s going to be a challenge, as a lot of the company is moving in pro-Trum-, you know, moving in a certain direction,” Gordon said, pausing mid-speech, according to CNBC. report

Palantir, valued at $461.54 billion after a 374.87% market increase, it seeks emergency injunctive relief, legal fee reimbursement, and an extension of the non-compete periods to cover the alleged infringement.

Hirsh Jain and General Catalyst did not immediately respond Decrypt’s requests for comments.