Palantir has escalated its ongoing legal battle with former employees by expanding its lawsuit to include the CEO of their new artificial intelligence startup, Percepta AI.
The revised complaint filed on Thursday accuses Percepta CEO and co-founder Hirsh Jain, alongside co-founder Radha Jain and former employee Joanna Cohen, of violating non-solicitation agreements and using Palantir’s proprietary knowledge to build a competing business.
According to Palantir, the trio engaged in efforts to “poach” software developers and executives while gaining an unfair advantage by accessing “valuable intellectual property.”
Percepta has rejected the accusations and criticized the case as unfounded.
The company said the lawsuit relies on “cherry-picking out-of-context soundbites,” insisting that no confidential information from Palantir was used.
“Palantir does not own the AI transformation space, which is massive and constantly evolving,” Percepta said.
“This is the latest in Palantir’s effort to use fear tactics to bully ex-employees out of innovating with applied AI.”
Palantir declined to comment further.
Claims of Misconduct and Unauthorized Recruitment
The defendants had been named in an earlier lawsuit filed in October, but the updated complaint adds new allegations, particularly around the recruitment of Palantir staff.
Cohen and Radha Jain previously worked as senior engineers at Palantir, while Hirsh Jain oversaw the company’s health-care portfolio before his resignation in August 2024.
Palantir says each individual had extensive access to confidential tools, internal workflows and client strategies that it describes as company “crown jewels.”
In its filing, Palantir alleges that the three “brazenly disregarded their contractual and legal commitments” and instead pursued “a path of deception and unjust competition.”
The lawsuit was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Cohen and Radha Jain denied earlier allegations in a November filing and agreed to step back from their roles at Percepta while the case unfolds.
Disputed Messages and Claimed Theft of Information
The complaint points to messages allegedly written by the defendants as evidence of intent to recruit Palantir personnel.
One message attributed to Hirsh Jain from November 2024 reads, “I’m down to pillage the best devs at palantir when they’re at their maximum richness.”
Another, allegedly from Radha Jain, reads, “God thinking about poaching is so fun.”
In addition, Cohen is accused of sending herself highly sensitive documents immediately after submitting her resignation in March.
Palantir claims she photographed and downloaded confidential files to her personal device.
“At Percepta, they seek to succeed not through old-fashioned ingenuity and competition, but through outright theft and deceit,” Palantir wrote.
Company Background and Requested Remedies
Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp and others, provides advanced analytics software for corporations and U.S. government agencies.
The company’s stock has surged more than tenfold since late 2023, pushing its valuation near $450 billion.
The suit seeks to bar the defendants from using or retaining any confidential information.
It also asks the court to restrict them from working at Percepta or venture firm General Catalyst for a 12-month period following any judicial order.
