Palantir and Sadiq Khan’s policing office end dispute over £50m Met contract

Palantir and London’s Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) said on Wednesday, 14 October, that they had settled their legal dispute over a proposed £50m Metropolitan Police technology contract. Both sides withdrew their allegations, ending a court fight over MOPAC’s decision to block the deal. Palantir can now bid for the service in a new competitive procurement.

The dispute followed MOPAC’s May 2026 decision to block a proposed two-year deal for the Met to use Palantir’s AI and data-analysis systems. Palantir sued MOPAC in June. According to the Guardian, the planned service was called Unified Operational Analytics and was intended to process intelligence in criminal investigations. Reuters, in a report republished by Channel NewsAsia, described the proposed work as including automation of certain tasks and analysis of evidence for London police.

Why the £50m Met contract became a legal dispute

Palantir had argued that the decision to block the contract reflected concerns about its values and ethics, citing media coverage, the Guardian reported. The parties’ joint statement, as reported by the Guardian and POLITICO, says the May decision was not based on Palantir’s values or ethics, or on wider reporting about the company. Palantir withdrew its claim as part of the resolution.

MOPAC said coverage of a statement made by a mayoral spokesperson before the decision could have created the incorrect impression that Palantir’s values had influenced it. The office said its consideration concerned its statutory role and the relevant legal tests and procurement guidance, including governance, affordability and value for money. The stated basis for excluding a potential supplier had been central to the dispute over the public contract.

What happens to the Metropolitan Police procurement

MOPAC and the Metropolitan Police are undertaking a new competitive procurement for the service. Palantir is eligible to take part, and MOPAC has agreed to treat it fairly and equally if it bids, according to the Guardian. The agreement does not require MOPAC to select Palantir. The next decision about the technology will therefore come through that competition, rather than through the proposed deal that prompted the lawsuit.

The £50m figure describes the proposed two-year contract at the heart of the dispute. The renewed competition’s timetable and other bidders have not been announced in the accounts of the settlement. For the Met, the procurement concerns a service intended to help process intelligence and analyse evidence in criminal investigations, making the choice of supplier consequential for its planned police technology work.

Each side will pay its own legal costs, and the Guardian reported that no damages were paid. The settlement also avoids a High Court trial that had been scheduled for January. It ends the immediate legal contest while leaving selection of a supplier to the new procurement process.

The police dispute sits alongside another question about Palantir’s UK public-sector work. Reuters separately reported that the UK was reviewing a £330m NHS contract with the company. That review concerns a different contract and is not a term of the settlement with MOPAC.