HHS uses Palantir’s AI tools to target “DEI” and “gender ideology” in grants

Since last March, The Department of Health and Human Services is using Palantir’s AI tools to screen and audit grants, grant applications and job descriptions for non-compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), according to a recently published inventory of all HHS AI use cases in 2025.

Neither Palantir nor HHS have publicly announced the use of the company’s software for these purposes. During the first year of Trump’s second term, Palantir received more than $35 million in payments and commitments from the Department of Health and Human Services alone. None of the descriptions of these transactions mention this business targeting DEI or “gender ideology.”

The audits were conducted within the HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which funds family and child welfare and oversees the foster care and adoption systems. Palantir is the only contractor tasked with preparing a list of “job descriptions that may need to be modified to comply with recent executive orders.”

In addition to Palantir, startup Credal AI — founded by two Palantir alumni — helped ACF vet “existing grants and new grant applications.” The “AI-driven” grant review process “reviews application files and generates initial scores and priorities for discussion,” Stock says. All relevant information is then forwarded to the ACF Program Office for final review.

ACF staff ultimately reviews any job descriptions, grants and grant applications flagged by the AI ​​during the “final review” phase, according to the inventory. It also states that these specific AI use cases are currently “deployed” within ACF, meaning they are actively being used at the agency.

Last year, ACF paid Credal AI about $750,000 to provide the company’s “generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) platform,” but descriptions of the payment in the Federal Register do not mention DEI or “gender ideology.”

HHS, ACF, Palantir, and Credal AI did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.

The two executive orders — Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Favors,” and Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideological Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” — were issued on Trump’s first day in office last year.

The first of these orders calls for the termination of any policies, programs, contracts, or grants that mention or relate to DEIA, DEI, “equity,” or “environmental justice,” and tasks the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Attorney General with leading these efforts.

The second requires that all “interpretations and applications” of federal laws and policies define “sex” as “an established biological classification” and designate the only sexes as “male” and “female.” It considers “sexual ideology” and “gender identity” to be “false” and “separate from biological reality.” It also states that no federal funds can be used to “promote gender ideology.”

“Each agency should evaluate grant terms and recipient preferences and ensure that grant funds do not promote gender ideology,” the document states.

The consequences of Executive Order 14151, targeting DEI, and Executive Order 14168, targeting “gender ideology,” have been deeply felt across the country over the past year.

Early last year, the National Science Foundation began flagging any research containing terms associated with DEI — including relatively generic terms, such as “female,” “inclusion,” “systemic,” or “underrepresented” — and placing it under formal review. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began retracting or discontinuing research that mentioned terms such as “LGBT,” “transgender,” or “nonbinary,” and stopped processing any data related to transgender people. Last July, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration removed the LGBTQ youth service line provided by 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.