Thiel's Palantir dumped by Norwegian investor over work for Israel
Storebrand sold Palantir holdings over human rights concerns
Palantir provides technology to Israeli military
Norway's government warned businesses about investments that aid Israel settlements
By Stefania Spezzati, Gwladys Fouche
LONDON/OSLO, Oct 25 (Reuters) -One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies PLTR.N because of concerns that the U.S. data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.
Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."
The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters.
A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April.
The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models.
Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.
Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday.
The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.
Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.
Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.
It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial.
A U.N. Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."
Israel rejected the U.N.'s findings.
In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
($1 = 10.9253 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by Stefania Spezzati in London and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Matthew Lewis
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
