Trump Administration Taps Palantir AI to Scrutinize Federal Diversity and Gender Programs

WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services has deployed artificial intelligence software from Palantir to screen grant applications and job postings for compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and diversity initiatives.

The technology, used since last March, aims to enforce mandates that eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government. The executive orders further define gender as an “immutable biological classification.”

Palantir received more than $35 million from HHS during the first year of Trump’s second term, according to a 2025 HHS catalog of AI use cases. Credal AI, a startup also involved in the grant screening process, received approximately $750,000.

Neither HHS nor Palantir had previously publicized the use of the software for these specific purposes.

The screening process takes place within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The AI system automatically flags grant applications and job descriptions containing targeted keywords, which are then sent to ACF staff for a final manual review.

The Trump administration’s integration of Palantir and Credal AI technologies marks a fundamental shift toward the algorithmic enforcement of ideological mandates. This deployment moves beyond traditional executive directives, embedding an automated surveillance framework directly into the federal bureaucracy. By leveraging Palantir—a firm traditionally associated with defense and intelligence analytics—to execute a domestic social agenda, the administration is effectively erasing the boundary between national security infrastructure and domestic governance.

The operational architecture of this system produces a profound "chilling effect." While the administration maintains a veneer of human oversight through "final review" protocols, the preliminary AI-driven screening process fundamentally dictates outcomes. Government agencies and grant seekers are now incentivized to preemptively purge references to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or LGBTQ+ initiatives to avoid being flagged by the system. In practice, AI functions as a digital gatekeeper, compelling stakeholders to engage in self-censorship before a human official ever reviews their applications.

Furthermore, the opacity surrounding these procurement contracts raises significant concerns regarding institutional transparency. The failure to disclose the specific intent of these tools suggests a strategic effort to implement controversial policy shifts while bypassing public scrutiny and traditional legislative debate. This reliance on AI enables the White House to rapidly restructure the federal apparatus along partisan lines, effectively circumventing the established norms of policy deliberation.

These policies could directly impact the Vietnamese-American nonprofits that serve as a lifeline for our community. Many of these organizations, from those rooted in Little Saigon to service centers across the country, rely on federal HHS grants to provide essential health and social services. If grant applications for programs supporting our youth, seniors, or LGBTQ+ members are automatically flagged by AI for using terms like “equity” or “inclusion,” these organizations risk being denied funding altogether. Such a shift would deplete the vital resources that sustain our community’s health and progress.