Coles is ending its 2024 data deal with Palantir, a Peter Thiel-founded analytics company described by outlets as having CIA links. Multiple reports say the arrangement covered extensive internal retail and workforce information gathered across the company’s operations.
The deal reportedly involves about 10 billion rows of data, including information tied to every store, work shift, and one of Australia’s largest workforces. The reports characterize Palantir as controversial due to its association with US intelligence, but they focus mainly on the scope of the data Coles provided and the fact that Coles is cutting ties.
While the outlets do not present conflicting claims about the decision itself, they frame Palantir’s involvement through the lens of controversy. The shared emphasis is on what Coles handed over under the 2024 agreement and that the relationship is now being discontinued.
