Palantir sues former employees, says Percepta AI CEO set out to 'pillage' top developers

Palantir Technologies has intensified its legal action against two former staff members by including the CEO of their newly founded AI venture, Percepta AI, in its lawsuit. The tech giant alleges that Hirsh Jain, the CEO and co-founder of Percepta AI, along with co-founder Radha Jain and employee Joanna Cohen, breached non-solicitation agreements by recruiting top talent to establish a rival enterprise. The lawsuit claims that the trio attempted to lure away executives and developers from Palantir while also attempting to exploit the company’s proprietary intellectual property. Neither Palantir nor Percepta AI provided immediate comments when approached for reactions to the lawsuit. The defendants, particularly Cohen and Radha Jain, were previously senior engineers at Palantir and were already named in an original lawsuit filed in October. Hirsh Jain, who oversaw the healthcare portfolio at Palantir before resigning in August 2024, has now been added to the complaint. Palantir asserts that these individuals had access to the company's most sensitive information, including source code and customer workflows, which they allegedly used in their pursuit of competitive advantage. In the court documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Palantir accused the defendants of willfully violating their legal obligations to the company, opting instead for deceptive practices in their new venture. Following the initial allegations, Cohen and Radha Jain denied wrongdoing in a November filing and agreed to halt their roles at Percepta during the litigation. The suit also alleges that Hirsh Jain orchestrated an active recruitment drive, managing to bring on board at least ten former Palantir employees. In November 2024, he reportedly sent a message stating, "I'm down to pillage the best devs at Palantir when they're at their maximum richness." In another message, Radha Jain remarked, "God thinking about poaching is so fun." Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel and led by CEO Alex Karp, specializes in analytics software aimed at businesses and government entities, including the U.S. military. The company has seen its stock value surge over ten times since late 2023, boosting its market capitalization to nearly $450 billion. Additionally, Palantir claims that Cohen improperly sent herself confidential documents shortly after her resignation in March, allegedly photographing sensitive materials and transferring them to her personal phone. The company contends that at Percepta AI, the approach to success is not through innovation but through theft and deceit. Palantir is seeking to compel the defendants to return any confidential materials and to refrain from working at Percepta or with venture partner General Catalyst for a period of 12 months following a court order.