Palantir hosts ‘invite-only’ event at Cornell University where students were required to sign an NDA
Palantir Technologies, a data analytics and defense software company, hosted an invite only recruitment event in Upson Hall at Cornell University on March 2, 2026. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, students attending the session were required to sign a non disclosure agreement (NDA), present identification and leave their backpacks at the front of the room before entering.The event was described as a private session coordinated with specific Cornell project teams. A university spokesperson said the visit was not a public recruitment event and had been organized directly with certain student teams rather than through broader campus recruitment channels.Approximately thirty students attended the event. A student attendee, who was granted anonymity by the newspaper due to legal concerns, said the session involved engineers presenting the company’s work followed by a question and answer segment.“There were no disruptions,” the attendee told The Sun, describing the event as “a couple engineers talking about their product.” The student added that the event included company presentations, a slideshow and promotional materials for attendees.More than five officers from the Cornell University Police Department were present in the hallway outside the room during the event, according to the student account.
A defense technology company with government contracts
Palantir Technologies is a Denver based company that develops data analysis platforms used by government and commercial clients. The firm holds federal contracts worth billions of United States dollars, including a ten year enterprise agreement with the USs Army valued at up to ten billion dollars.One of Palantir’s products, known as Gotham, is used by agencies within the US intelligence community and the Department of Defense to analyze large data sets and identify patterns linking people, locations and events.The company also holds a contract with the Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency worth thirty million dollars. The contract supports the development of ImmigrationOS, a surveillance platform used to assist deportation operations.ImmigrationOS uses data analysis tools and artificial intelligence to combine information from government databases in order to identify and track individuals targeted for deportation, according to a report from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Acquisition Management.Palantir’s relationship with ICE has drawn criticism from civil liberties organizations.
Details of the recruitment event
Students who attended the Cornell session said the event focused primarily on Palantir’s technology and career opportunities. According to The Sun, participants were grouped according to the engineering project teams with which they were affiliated.The attendee told the newspaper that teams mentioned during the event included Cornell Custom Silicon Systems, Cornell Autonomous Drone, Cornell Data Science, Cornell Mars Rover and Cornell Rocketry.The event also demonstrated Palantir’s Gaia interface, a mapping tool that forms part of the Gotham system and allows teams in the field to share information and coordinate operations.During the presentation, a recruiter referred to an email reportedly sent by a soldier in Afghanistan describing how a Palantir product had helped improve operational efficiency, according to the attendee.The student said that Palantir’s contracts with ICE were not discussed during the event.Cornell alumni currently employed at Palantir also attended the session. According to the attendee, they shared their experiences working at the company and discussed how they joined the firm.
Invitations and NDA requirement
A second student who attended the event told the newspaper that the invitation process began with an email sent in January to members of a Cornell project team. The email encouraged team members to express interest in the recruitment event.After indicating interest, the student received follow up emails from Christine Wu, a talent coordinator for Palantir, with Emily Waldman, a technology recruiter for the company, copied on the messages. Copies of these emails were obtained by The Sun.On February 24, the student received a formal invitation describing the recruitment session and mentioning that selected attendees could take part in an accelerated interview process. According to the email, this process would include a coding challenge, a virtual interview and a final interview with a hiring manager.A later email sent on February 28 confirmed the location and time of the event. The message also informed students that they would need to sign a non disclosure agreement and asked them not to share details of the session with others.“Please note: this is an invite only event,” Wu wrote in the message cited by The Cornell Daily Sun. “Please don’t share these details with others as we have limited capacity.”The NDA required participants not to remove documents or equipment from company premises and prohibited recording or copying information encountered during the visit, according to a copy obtained by the newspaper.
University response
The Sun asked Cornell University whether the institution’s career services office had coordinated the recruitment event and why identification checks, security presence and non disclosure agreements were required.A university spokesperson said companies may structure campus recruitment in several ways, including working through Cornell Career Services, individual colleges or student project teams.“Employers may choose to structure their campus recruiting events in a variety of ways through Cornell Career Services, directly with a college or school or through project teams,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the newspaper. “The Palantir visit was always a private, invite only event coordinated with specific project teams.”
Activist criticism
The recruitment event also prompted criticism from a student activist group known as the 333 Artist’s Collective. Before the event, members posted flyers around campus directing students to a website criticizing Palantir and Cornell’s connections with the company.The website included messages opposing the company’s work with US immigration authorities and listed the names and photographs of Cornell students and alumni employed by Palantir.In an email statement to The Sun, members of the collective said the site reflected concerns about companies that contract with ICE and other defense agencies.The group said many of its members have friends and family who have been affected by recent immigration enforcement operations.The Palantir recruitment session followed another technology event at Cornell in February involving defense company Anduril Industries. That talk ended after several minutes when protesters interrupted the presentation.Anduril produces AIe based surveillance systems used along the US southern border and has partnered with US Customs and Border Protection since 2019.Members of the 333 Artist’s Collective said their campaign was intended to draw attention to the role universities play in supplying talent to companies working in defense and surveillance technology.“We wanted to remind people that they have the power to influence the hold that companies like Palantir and Anduril have over USs citizens by fostering an environment where Palantir would not feel welcome recruiting from Cornell,” the group wrote in its statement to the newspaper.
