THE SNOOP NEXT DOOR
ON MAY 26 OF THIS YEAR, ALEX KARP, THE CEO OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL TECH FIRMS, HINTED AT PERHAPS THE WORST-KEPT SECRET IN SILICON VALLEY:
Palantir Technologies, a controversial data-mining company with contracts throughout the highest levels of the federal government, would soon be moving its headquarters out of Palo Alto, California. As with most everything Palantir does, there was a twist. The company wouldn’t be shifting its operational base to New York City or Washington, D.C., where Palantir maintains offices and would have been in close proximity to some of its most prominent clients. “We haven’t picked a place yet,” Karp said in an interview that aired on HBO late that spring night. “If I had to guess, I would guess something like Colorado.”
Two days later, a manager from Denver’s Department of Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO) pasted into an email a link to a news story that included Karp’s quote about Palantir’s possible move. Like many within the city’s government, the staffer seemed unfamiliar with Palantir, which has around 2,400 employees worldwide, a valuation estimated near $20 billion, and a mounting list of critics who have questioned the company’s work with the CIA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and municipal law enforcement agencies. “This company has been talking about relocation for a while,” Rebecca Gillis, DEDO’s business retention and expansion program manager, wrote to employees of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), the state agency that most likely would be involved in such a move. “[W]ondering if you can share if they have interacted with OEDIT recently. If not, should we reach out? I may do so on behalf of the city….”
For Colorado, there was reason to act quickly. A Silicon Valley unicorn pulling up anchor in Northern California and seeking refuge at the edge of the Rocky Mountains doesn’t happen every day, especially in the middle of a pandemic. In fact, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. As shutdowns mounted nationwide, there appeared to be little immediate economic relief on the horizon; under those circumstances, Palantir’s announcement must have seemed like an unanticipated gift left on Colorado’s doorstep. The company’s move, if it happened, would be an affirmation—a signal to the rest of the nation that Colorado wasn’t just back in business. With another tech company setting up an office in Denver, the state could become a magnet for Silicon Valley firms and other prestigious businesses during the worst economic climate in nearly a
