The Cage Is Closing: Peter Thiel Has the Key

Introduction

The cage is not a metaphor for the future. It is being built now, through contracts, procurement schedules, and quiet executive orders. Piece by piece, Peter Thiel has embedded himself inside the operating core of the U.S. government. His company Palantir provides the platforms that fuse data across the Pentagon, Homeland Security, the IRS, HHS, the FDA, the VA, the State Department, and local police departments. His other company, Anduril, has already planted more than 300 autonomous surveillance towers across the southern border and is expanding its drones and AI defense systems inland.

In March 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order on eliminating information silos. It directs agencies to share data that once had firewalls by law. That order means IRS records can flow directly into ICE dashboards. HHS health data can land inside DOJ litigation systems. FDA’s food safety monitoring can merge with DHS crisis maps. Palantir acts as the middleware wiring those pipes together. Because of Palantir’s dual-class stock structure, Thiel retains personal control of the company’s strategic direction regardless of shareholder pressure.

The bars of this cage are data flows. The locks are algorithms. And each crisis — a war, a pandemic, a shortage, or a wave of protests — provides the excuse to slam it tighter. What follows is a long-form map of where Palantir and Anduril already live inside the U.S. government, what they do today, how they can be turned against the public, and the warning signs that many of these risks are already unfolding.

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Department of Defense (DoD)

Nowhere is Palantir’s footprint larger than at the Pentagon. The most prominent example is Project Maven, originally conceived as an experiment in AI-assisted image recognition. Today it is the flagship program for military data fusion. In May 2025, the Army Contracting Command expanded Palantir’s ceiling by another $795 million, bringing the total contract into the billions (DefenseScoop). Maven’s “smart system” combines drone footage, satellite imagery, and intercepted communications into live targeting dashboards, explicitly designed to accelerate the “sensor to shooter” pipeline.

At the same time, the Army relies on Palantir for Vantage, a data platform awarded under contracts worth more than $600 million. Vantage serves as the Army’s readiness hub, tracking troop deployment status, equipment maintenance cycles, fuel levels, and supply chains. Its predictive analytics allow the Army to identify shortages and reallocate resources before they occur (Inside Defense).

The U.S. Space Force is also on Palantir. In May 2025, Space Systems Command awarded Palantir a $217.8 million contract for the Space C2 Data Platform, a system that manages satellite telemetry, conjunction alerts, and orbital threat tracking (Space Systems Command).

And NATO itself has adopted Maven, effectively extending Palantir’s platform across allied militaries (AINvest).

The danger here is straightforward: these same systems can be repurposed inward. Maven’s targeting dashboards can be applied to protest movements in U.S. cities, mapping them as “disruption nodes” and flagging leaders for preemptive arrest. Vantage’s logistics optimization could be used during martial law to control food and fuel distribution. Space C2, meant to track orbital threats, could monitor or disable the commercial drones and uplinks used by journalists. The Pentagon is not merely experimenting with Palantir anymore — it is running on it.

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / ICE / CBP

DHS is one of Palantir’s longest-standing clients, and here the company’s reach is already aimed inward at populations. ICE’s investigative systems run almost entirely on Palantir platforms.

The FALCON Search & Analysis system is a Palantir-based platform confirmed in DHS privacy assessments. It integrates biometrics, DMV records, phone metadata, license plate reader feeds, financial histories, and court filings into a single environment where agents can run link analysis and build network graphs (DHS PIA).

The Investigative Case Management system (ICM) replaced older enforcement databases. FOIA disclosures show it was explicitly designed to link cases across DHS components and with other federal agencies (EPIC FOIA).

And in 2025, ICE signed a new $30 million contract with Palantir for ImmigrationOS, a real-time deportation dashboard. According to procurement filings, prototypes are due by September 2025, and field testing is already underway (Wired).

These systems are not passive databases. FALCON already contains billions of license plate records integrated with telecom and financial data. Agents use it to generate real-time maps of communities. ImmigrationOS adds automation, ranking targets and pushing enforcement packages directly to the field.

From Thiel’s perspective, the opportunity is obvious. Once the 2025 Executive Order tore down firewalls, DHS systems could ingest IRS tax data and HHS health records. Immigration dashboards become population dashboards. Protesters could be flagged automatically when Anduril towers detect their phones or license plates near an event. Financial “anomaly detection” could be used to freeze or audit small businesses connected to targeted groups.

The warning signs are already here. ImmigrationOS is being tested now. DHS records confirm Palantir’s Gotham platform was customized for ICE. DHS has previously used Palantir to monitor activists at Standing Rock and during the George Floyd protests. And taxpayer data is already flowing from the IRS to ICE under new data-sharing agreements.

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Department of Justice (DOJ)

The DOJ operates its PRIMA system on Palantir. Privacy Impact Assessments from the department confirm that PRIMA is the litigation and investigations management system for the Civil Division (DOJ PIA).

PRIMA today is primarily used to manage discovery documents, evidence, and case materials. But under the 2025 Executive Order, its data feeds no longer stop at DOJ. PRIMA can now ingest IRS filings, HHS health records, and DHS case data, creating a platform capable of building predictive “risk profiles” for potential defendants before charges are even filed.

For someone like Thiel, this is not just about legal efficiency. It is about leverage. Pattern analysis across health, tax, and mobility data allows prosecutors to treat advocacy groups as “high-risk” clusters. Algorithms could quietly flag journalists or organizers for future enforcement. Predictive litigation shifts the DOJ’s posture from responding to crime to preempting dissent.

The department’s own modernization documents reference “predictive enforcement.” Palantir’s licensing inside DOJ is expanding. This is not theory — it is happening inside the core of the U.S. legal system today.

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Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The IRS has opened one of the most dangerous doors. Its project, DOGE (Data Operations and Government Exchange), is designed to unify taxpayer databases into a single API, and Palantir is central to its design.

IRS “hackathon” events featured Palantir engineers building prototypes for a mega-API that lawmakers now describe as a “single searchable database” of every American taxpayer. In May 2025, both the Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office opened probes into DOGE and Palantir’s involvement (Fedscoop).

If completed, DOGE will make every IRS record queryable in real time — income, employers, dependents, donations, addresses.

From Thiel’s vantage point, this is the holy grail. A complete financial dossier of every American, instantly linkable to DHS, DOJ, or HHS dashboards under the Executive Order. That means algorithmic audits of political dissidents. Benefits eligibility tied to compliance scores. Activist groups targeted through their tax-exempt filings.

This is not speculation. OIG and GAO probes are active now. Senators Ron Wyden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have already demanded explanations about Palantir’s role. And ProPublica has confirmed that the IRS has shared taxpayer data with ICE in recent years.

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Health & Human Services (HHS) / VA

During the pandemic, Palantir built its beachhead inside the U.S. health system.

HHS Protect, launched in 2020, became a clearinghouse of more than 200 datasets, including hospital capacity, case data, mobility feeds, and pharmacy inventories (HHS FAQ). Initially built for COVID, it has since been expanded to track flu, RSV, and other health threats.

The Tiberius platform, also built on Palantir, was used during Operation Warp Speed to allocate vaccines across the country. It integrated census data, pharmacy networks, and shipping logistics (DoD).

The VA went further, adopting Palantir Foundry to manage veteran health records and claims. Foundry runs inside sensitive VA systems, effectively making Palantir the decision layer for veterans’ benefits.

What makes this dangerous is how easily these same systems can be repurposed. HHS Protect could be used to create compliance scores for communities, linking pharmacy purchases or vaccination rates to federal funding. Fraud analytics, already used at the VA to deny claims, could be applied to Medicare, Social Security, or SNAP. Mobility data linked to health claims could become a tool for monitoring movement and enforcing compliance.

The warning signs are visible. HHS Protect has already been expanded beyond COVID. Tiberius was used by thousands of federal and state officials. VA claim denials have already been influenced by Palantir-driven analytics. The architecture is there, and it is running.

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Food & Drug Administration (FDA)

The FDA uses Palantir to monitor the U.S. food supply. In 2022, the agency awarded Palantir a $22 million contract for 21 Forward, a system designed to track supply chains and predict shortages (Federal Times).

21 Forward was first deployed during the infant formula crisis, pulling in data from USDA, CDC, and distributors to forecast disruptions and coordinate responses. It remains operational and integrated with HHS Protect.

The danger here is direct: food can be used as leverage. Contamination flags can freeze shipments to specific regions. SNAP and WIC redemption data can be tied to distribution maps, allowing the government to ration or deny access to communities labeled as “non-compliant.”

21 Forward is active today. Its dashboards are live. The infrastructure to weaponize the food supply already exists.

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State Department

The State Department has begun using Palantir-linked AI tools for internal operations. The department’s official AI inventory lists StateChat, a chatbot that drafts cables, triages queries, and even helps select promotion panelists. Reuters confirmed in June 2025 that StateChat is actively being used for diplomatic staffing decisions (Reuters).

What looks like a harmless productivity tool carries serious implications. AI-assisted drafting standardizes diplomatic messaging and narrows the range of perspectives that make it into official communications. Using it for promotion panels creates a subtle but powerful gatekeeping mechanism, one that could sideline dissenting voices and entrench conformity.

The warning sign here is simple: StateChat is live and being used now.

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Local Law Enforcement

Palantir’s predictive policing has already been deployed inside American cities. From 2012 to 2018, the New Orleans Police Department secretly ran a Palantir predictive program that analyzed social networks to identify potential criminals — a program only exposed years later (The Verge).

The NYPD contracted with Palantir and later tried to exit the agreement, only to discover the department could not access its own data without Palantir’s cooperation (Brennan Center).

The LAPD and LA Sheriff’s Department have both used Palantir Gotham for data analysis and predictive policing (Los Angeles Times).

These systems were explicitly used to map protest networks and identify potential leaders for preemptive policing. The danger is already proven. Palantir’s predictive policing has a documented history of targeting Black and immigrant communities, and the lock-in dynamic makes cities dependent on Thiel’s platform.

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Anduril: The Perimeter

Anduril provides the physical hardware layer for surveillance and control. By late 2024, Customs and Border Protection had deployed more than 300 autonomous surveillance towers built by Anduril, covering nearly a third of the southern border (Anduril).

These towers use computer vision, RF, and acoustic sensors to autonomously detect and classify people and vehicles, feeding alerts into DHS operations. Anduril also produces drones and undersea systems, all linked through its Lattice OS.

The risk is that these towers do not need to remain on the border. They can be placed around ports, energy grids, protest sites, or neighborhoods. A “temporary perimeter” during unrest quickly becomes a standing domestic checkpoint system.

This is not abstract. Three hundred towers are already live. Contracts with DHS and CBP confirm continued expansion into ports and inland sites.

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The Executive Order: The Fuse

The Executive Order of March 2025 is what ties everything together. By mandating cross-agency sharing of federal data, it allows systems like FALCON, PRIMA, DOGE, HHS Protect, and 21 Forward to interoperate seamlessly.

That means a single Palantir dashboard can now draw on tax returns, health records, immigration files, litigation history, and food-supply monitoring at once. For Thiel, this is the dream: total integration. For the public, it is the architecture of control.

The order is already being implemented across agencies. IRS data-sharing with ICE is happening now. HHS Protect is being linked to new datasets. The floodgates are open.

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Warning Signs to Watch

The cage is already half-built, but the most dangerous part is how quietly it tightens. Most people won’t notice until it snaps shut, because the shift happens through procurement notices, system “modernizations,” and pilot programs that sound technical and harmless. There are patterns to watch for — red flags that show when another bar has been welded into place.

The first is procurement language. Agencies rarely say “we’re buying Palantir.” Instead they use terms like “single pane of glass,” “enterprise data layer,” or “interoperability platform.” The IRS has already used this kind of phrasing when describing DOGE as a “single API” across tax databases, a description lawmakers called a “mega-database” (Fedscoop). Watch for those phrases in spending announcements, because they almost always mean a Palantir-type contract.

The second is data-sharing agreements. The 2025 Executive Order makes them easier to sign, and agencies now pass information that used to be off-limits. IRS–ICE sharing of taxpayer data is already happening, despite obvious risks of abuse (ProPublica). Expect to see more quiet MOUs between IRS, HHS, DOJ, and DHS — each one expands the reach of Palantir dashboards.

The third warning sign is local adoption. Cities often sign predictive-policing contracts with Palantir or similar vendors in secret. That happened in New Orleans, where the police department ran a hidden Palantir program from 2012 to 2018, only revealed years later (The Verge). NYPD’s lock-in fight with Palantir showed how hard it is for local governments to leave once they sign on (Brennan Center). If you see your city or county issuing an RFP for “data fusion” or “intelligence-led policing,” that’s a red flag.

And finally, there is hardware expansion. Anduril’s towers are marketed as border tools, but they are already being deployed inland at ports and energy infrastructure. The company has confirmed more than 300 towers live along the border (Anduril), and CBP continues to expand their footprint. If towers begin appearing around cities, ports, or protest corridors, the perimeter of the cage is moving inward.

The Checklist

• Look for procurement keywords like “interoperability,” “enterprise data layer,” or “single pane of glass” in federal and city spending notices.

• Track cross-agency MOUs that reference the 2025 Executive Order, especially those linking IRS, DHS, DOJ, and HHS data.

• Watch for local predictive policing contracts or disputes over data ownership when departments try to leave Palantir.

• Follow Anduril tower deployments — especially if they expand away from the southern border into ports, power grids, or city approaches.

• Pay attention to fraud analytics language at agencies like the VA or HHS. That often signals Palantir-driven compliance dashboards being applied to benefits.

• Note when agencies describe systems as “read centers” for all data. That is Palantir’s signature pitch.

The architecture of control grows through these signals. Each one is another bar in the cage. They are happening now, in plain view, under the cover of modernization.

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Conclusion

Palantir runs the core. Anduril runs the perimeter. Local police enforce it on the street. The Executive Order stitches it all into one nervous system.

These are not hypotheticals. ImmigrationOS is in field testing now. IRS DOGE is under construction now. HHS Protect is expanded and live. FDA’s 21 Forward is operational. LAPD, NYPD, and NOPD already ran Palantir for predictive policing. Anduril’s towers already dot the border.

The cage is closing. The bars are data pipelines. The locks are algorithms. And Peter Thiel holds the key.

Stay curious. Stay safe. Get prepared now.

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Outline – The Cage Is Closing & Peter Thiel Has the Key

• Introduction
  • Palantir and Anduril are embedded across government.
  • March 2025 Executive Order forces cross-agency data sharing.
  • The bars of the cage are data pipelines, the locks are algorithms.
• Department of Defense (DoD)
  • Project Maven: $795M expansion, AI targeting.
  • Army Vantage: $600M+, logistics and readiness hub.
  • Space C2: $217.8M, satellite and orbital tracking.
  • NATO adoption of Maven.
  • Danger: warfighting dashboards repurposed for domestic control.
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS/ICE/CBP)
  • FALCON & ICM: link analysis, license plates, biometrics, financial data.
  • ImmigrationOS: $30M real-time deportation dashboard.
  • Danger: immigration analytics turn into population analytics.
  • Already used on protests like Standing Rock and George Floyd.
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
  • PRIMA litigation system built on Palantir.
  • Danger: predictive enforcement, cross-pulled health/tax/immigration data.
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • DOGE project: mega-API across taxpayer records.
  • OIG/GAO probes active.
  • Danger: financial dossiers on every American; compliance scoring; activist audits.
• Health & Human Services (HHS) / VA
  • HHS Protect: 200+ datasets, pandemic COP expanded.
  • Tiberius: vaccine allocation logistics.
  • VA Foundry: health records and claims on Palantir.
  • Danger: benefits denial, compliance dashboards, movement tracking.
• Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
  • 21 Forward: $22M food supply monitoring platform. Used in infant formula crisis.
  • Danger: rationing and food access as control levers.
• State Department
  • StateChat AI tool drafts cables and helps select promotions.
  • Danger: narrative standardization, dissent silenced.
• Local Law Enforcement
  • New Orleans predictive policing (secret until exposed).
  • NYPD lock-in dispute.
  • LAPD and LASD predictive policing with Palantir.
  • Danger: protest suppression and city lock-in.
• Anduril (The Perimeter)
  • 300+ autonomous surveillance towers deployed.
  • Expanding into ports and energy grids.
  • Danger: temporary perimeters become standing domestic checkpoints.
• The Executive Order (The Fuse)
  • March 2025 EO forces cross-agency sharing.
  • IRS → ICE, HHS → DOJ, FDA → DHS.
  • Danger: total integration of control systems.
• Conclusion
  • The cage is operational now.
  • ImmigrationOS, DOGE, HHS Protect, 21 Forward, and Anduril towers are live.
  • The locks are in place. Thiel has the key.
• Warning Signs to Watch
  • Procurement keywords like “interoperability” and “enterprise data layer.”
  • IRS/DHS/HHS/DOJ MOUs citing the EO.
  • Local predictive-policing contracts.
  • Anduril towers expanding inland.
  • Benefits tied to fraud analytics dashboards.

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TLDR

Peter Thiel’s Palantir isn’t coming for government — it already runs it. The Pentagon uses it for warfighting dashboards, ICE for deportation targeting, DOJ for litigation, the IRS for a mega-database of taxpayer records, HHS and the VA for health data, and the FDA for food supply monitoring. His other company, Anduril, has deployed 300+ autonomous surveillance towers along the border. In March 2025, Trump’s Executive Order forced these systems to share data across agencies, creating a unified control grid. ImmigrationOS, IRS DOGE, HHS Protect, FDA 21 Forward, and predictive policing programs are all live now. The cage is closing — the bars are data pipelines, the locks are algorithms, and Peter Thiel holds the key.