Palantir sues ex-engineers at new AI startup backed by General Catalyst, claiming they stole its 'crown jewels' (www.businessinsider.com)

Palantir has sued two former engineers now working at Percepta — a new AI integration startup backed by venture firm General Catalyst — alleging they stole confidential materials and used deception to replicate Palantir’s platform. The Manhattan civil complaint says the ex-employees exploited access to Palantir’s “crown jewels,” including source code, an internal healthcare demo workspace, deployed customer workflows and proprietary customer‑engagement strategies, and that one employee emailed herself highly confidential healthcare documents the day after resigning. Palantir also says Percepta’s post‑stealth claim to have built in 11 months what Palantir developed over decades, and alleges the departures violated noncompete agreements. The case highlights escalating legal and operational risks at the intersection of enterprise AI, talent mobility and IP protection. For the AI/ML community it underscores how sensitive artifacts — model code, deployment pipelines, configuration for client workflows and curated demo datasets — can be leveraged to shortcut product development and go‑to‑market for platform integrators targeting government, healthcare and large enterprises. The dispute could shape hiring practices, due‑diligence by VCs, and how startups document provenance and isolation of models/data to avoid trade‑secret litigation. Palantir’s history of litigation and General Catalyst’s high‑profile backing amplify the broader fight between entrenched tech incumbents and fast‑moving AI disruptors.