Palantir sues former engineers for allegedly stealing trade secrets to build rival AI startup Percepta

Palantir, the controversial data analytics company known for its close ties to U.S. intelligence agencies, has taken two of its former engineers to court — accusing them of stealing its “crown jewels” to build a competing AI firm.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, Palantir claims that former senior engineers Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen used confidential source code and customer data to help launch Percepta AI, a startup recently backed by General Catalyst. The company described Percepta as a “copycat” operation modeled on Palantir’s own AI-driven platforms, which are widely used by corporations and government agencies to analyze massive data sets and improve operational efficiency.

“The lawsuit, in Manhattan federal court claims that Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen were “entrusted with Palantir’s crown jewels,” including its source code and customer information, and breached agreements they signed with the company to safeguard that information,” Reuters reported.

According to the filing, Jain and Cohen were “entrusted with Palantir’s crown jewels” — referring to proprietary technology that powers its flagship software — and signed agreements that barred them from using or disclosing any of that information after leaving. Palantir alleges they ignored those terms to jumpstart Percepta, a company that now employs at least ten former Palantir staffers, including co-founder and CEO Hirsh Jain. Nearly half of Percepta’s workforce once worked at Palantir.

“Jain’s and Cohen’s deception and violation of their agreements with Palantir are black and white,” the company said in the lawsuit.

Palantir vs. Percepta: Palantir Accuses Former Staff of Launching a Clone Startup Using Its ‘Crown Jewel’ Source Code

The complaint outlines that Jain left the company in November 2024, after helping design and build some of Palantir’s most critical software systems, while Cohen resigned in February 2025 after working on AI solutions tailored for enterprise customers.

Percepta AI was officially unveiled earlier this month and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. According to court filings, Palantir is seeking to enforce the former employees’ non-compete and confidentiality agreements, which bar them from competing with Palantir for one year and from soliciting its customers or employees for two years.

Neither Percepta nor Jain responded immediately to requests for comment. Cohen could not be reached.

The legal clash highlights a growing tension inside Silicon Valley’s AI boom: high-value engineers are leaving legacy firms with deep proprietary knowledge to launch well-funded startups — and their former employers are increasingly fighting back.

For Palantir, a company built on the premise of securing sensitive information, the case is about more than competition. It’s a warning shot to anyone who walks away with what it considers its most valuable asset — its data.

Founded 17 years ago by a group that included Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, Palantir builds software that helps organizations integrate and analyze massive data sets. Its platforms — Gotham, Metropolis, and Foundry — are used by clients ranging from U.S. intelligence agencies to hedge funds. The company’s name comes from the “seeing stones” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, a nod to its mission of helping clients see what others can’t.

Percepta Founders