Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PAFormer Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins PalantirPeer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq KhanAnother former government minister has been hired by a controversial US AI company, this time Palantir, which has appointed Andy Burnham’s former ministerial colleague Tom Watson.
What happened
Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq KhanAnother former government minister has been hired by a controversial US AI company, this time Palantir, which has appointed Andy Burnham’s former ministerial colleague Tom Watson. The Labour peer and former deputy leader will operate alongside Palantir’s UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, as the company attempts to fend off pressure on Burnham’s government to axe its £330m NHS contract. It is also fighting Sadiq Khan in court over the Labour London mayor’s block on a £50m contract to use its AI in Metropolitan police investigations. Palantir also wants to win more public sector work in the UK, where it already has an annual turnover of £427m. Continue reading. . .
The Labour peer and former deputy leader will operate alongside Palantir’s UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, as the company attempts to fend off pressure on Burnham’s government to axe its £330m NHS contract. Since stepping down from parliament in 2019, Watson has been an adviser to the gambling and music industries and, since 2024, he has been a part-time adviser to Palantir, including accompanying Mosley at Labour party conferences. Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Part of Watson’s role at Palantir will be to ‘deepen the social and economic value its work creates through better British public services, jobs and skills’.
After the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg spent nearly seven years earning millions working for Mark Zuckerberg at Meta, the former prime minister Rishi Sunak last year took jobs with Anthropic and Microsoft and the former chancellor George Osborne started working for OpenAI. “The only surefire way to stop tech companies benefiting from privileged information acquired by ministers or senior civil servants is to introduce an enforceable five-year ban on taking up industry posts. ”Watson said he was “terrifically excited” by the new role as Palantir’s senior vice-president and highlighted two of the contracts that are in dispute when he said he wanted to help Palantir speed up NHS diagnosis, treatment and discharge from hospitals and enable “our police to crack crimes and root out corruption”.
Palantir said Watson had taken a leave of absence from the House of Lords and had relinquished his parliamentary pass while working for Palantir in London.
The wider picture
Explore more on these topicsTom WatsonPalantirnewsShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed Skip to content Menu Home | Former Philippines leader appears before ICC judges for first time Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte appears before the International Criminal Court Image Credits : Reuters Reuters 16 September 2026, 12:44 [SAST] Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared in the courtroom on Wednesday for the first time since being transferred to the International Criminal Court 18 months ago to face murder charges regarding his war on drugs.
It is also fighting Sadiq Khan in court over the Labour London mayor’s block on a £50m contract to use its AI in Metropolitan police investigations. Palantir also wants to win more public sector work in the UK, where it already has an annual turnover of £427m. Palantir has a £240m contract with the Ministry of Defence. Skip NavigationMarketsBusinessInvestingTechPolitics & PolicyVideoWatchlistInvesting ClubPROLivestreamMenuKey PointsPalantir CEO Alex Karp cited the "unlimited risks" of AI and the need for liability protection in making the case that leading AI labs may need to be nationalized.
In this articlePLTRFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTwatch nowVIDEO1:1601:16Palantir CEO Alex Karp: AI needs to have 'reasonable guidelines'Squawk on the StreetPalantir CEO Alex Karp called for "reasonable guidelines" on artificial intelligence regulation but said nationalization may be needed because of the liabilities tied to the technology's "unlimited risks. "The tech executive's comments come as policymakers and tech leaders fiercely debate how to regulate sophisticated AI models after researchers warned of the technology's dire risks to humanity.
What has been reported
Similar moves have faced backlash in the Senate. watch nowVIDEO12:2112:21Former senior WH AI policy advisor on AI safety concerns: Don't think regulation is neededSquawk BoxChoose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news. The company was co-founded by the Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel and provides AI-powered software to the Israeli military and the White House’s ICE immigration crackdown, leading to a public and political backlash against its deepening involvement in British public services.
Alex Karp, its chief executive, said: “This is just the latest chapter of Tom’s forty-year fight for better public services. He was a defence minister and a minister for digital engagement in Gordon Brown’s government. The move is just the latest example of a revolving door between British politics and big tech. Keir Starmer’s AI adviser, Matt Clifford, also joined Anthropic this month. Karp said the builders of harmful tech should be held liable for their actions.
Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have backed a push to slow frontier AI development.
What happens next
" "The view that I believe they have is, these businesses have to be nationalized because if you don't nationalize it, every single one of my clients is going to sue," Karp told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. Karp repeatedly referenced the risks and responsibilities tied to building the powerful technology, further making a case for nationalizing AI labs and both civil and criminal liabilities for tech builders who are "not being responsible. ""You have to find a way to set reasonable guidelines that are enforced, but you can't do it," he said.
"The first line of defense is you're liable for your own actions. Anthropic's Dario Amodei chimed in over the weekend, calling for a slowdown in the frontier. S. chip manufacturing leaves Samsung, TSMC desperate for talentOpenAI reports 6 new instances of 'concerning model behavior' since MarchOpenAI CEO Sam Altman will attend state dinner for Trump-Xi summit in WashingtonAnthropic policy chief says AI companies can't be expected to operate on 'honor code'The calls for AI regulation have aligned unlikely rivals Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
President Donald Trump, however, has pushed back, calling AI risks a "hoax" in several social media posts over the last few days.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across theguardian.com, cnbc.com, sabcnews.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.