UK keeps Palantir on the NHS payroll at £330M while scouting British replacements

Britain is keeping Palantir on the NHS payroll — for now. The government plans to extend the US data giant's £330 million contract with the health service rather than tear it up early, according to the Financial Times, which cited several people familiar with the discussions. Ministers reckon a sudden exit would scramble NHS data systems.

But the extension comes with a trapdoor. Officials intend to open a fresh competition that could hand the work to a British firm in around two years, the FT reported. That means Palantir keeps the keys while the government quietly shops for a replacement.

The decision follows a push by Prime Minister Andy Burnham to put British technology companies first. Labour lawmakers and activists have spent months hammering Palantir's role in NHS data, arguing a US contractor shouldn't be this deep inside the country's public health infrastructure. Protests have landed in London over it.

Palantir's defenders inside government make a blunter argument: pulling out mid-stream risks disruption to systems the NHS now leans on. Extending the deal buys time — and time is exactly what a new bidding process needs.

So the fight shifts to round two. Watch which British companies throw their hats in the ring, and whether the roughly two-year runway holds. For now, Palantir stays — under scrutiny, and on notice.