Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) has filed a lawsuit against two former employees, alleging they carried out a scheme of deceit and theft to support the creation of a rival AI firm.
Former Employees Launch ‘Copycat’ Firm
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the Southern District of New York. The defendants, Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen, are alleged to have violated their non-competition agreements by working on a “copycat” business, Percepta, owned by venture-capital firm General Catalyst.
Palantir also alleges that Cohen stole a collection of highly confidential documents before his departure. The company also claims that the two former employees had access to its “crown jewels”—such as its source code, internal workspace, and customer workflows—which were all safeguarded under non-compete and confidentiality agreements.
“Jain and Cohen weaponized their insider knowledge to harm Palantir by passing off Palantir’s efforts as their own,” the company stated in its complaint.
Tech Giants Locked In Trade Secret Wars
This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles over alleged trade secret theft in the tech industry. In August, Elon Musk’s xAI filed a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets and taking them to rival firm OpenAI.
In July 2023, Twitter (Now X) accused Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) of stealing trade secrets for its rival social media app Threads; however, it did not file a lawsuit on the same.
Meanwhile, Palantir has emerged as a leading AI player with prestigious federal contracts. Legendary investor and AI advocate, Cathie Wood, recently touted the company as a “secret weapon” amid concerns of a potential AI bubble.
Palantir holds a momentum rating of 97.74% and a growth rating of 95.99%, according to Benzinga's Proprietary Edge Rankings. The Benzinga Growth metric evaluates a stock’s historical earnings and revenue expansion across multiple timeframes, prioritizing both long-term trends and recent performance. Check the detailed report here.
Price Action: On a year-to-date basis, Palantir stock has surged 158.74% to close at $194.55 on Thursday, as per data from Benzinga Pro.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
