IRS sources told Wired that Palantir, a software company co-founded by Peter Thiel, is part of Elon Musk’s so-called Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts.
Over the past three days, Doge and a handful of Palantir representatives and dozens of professional IRS engineers have been working together to build an API layer on all IRS databases in previous activities, formerly “Hackathon” of “Hackathon”. Sources with direct knowledge told Wired that Palantir representatives were at the event this week.
API is an application programming interface that allows different applications to exchange data and can be used to move IRS data to the cloud and access it here. Doge’s interest in API projects may touch all IRS data, including taxpayer names, addresses, social insurance numbers, tax returns and employment data. The IRS API layer can also allow someone to compare IRS data with interoperable data sets from other institutions.
If the project moves forward and Doge wants Palantir’s Foundry software to be the “reading center” for all IRS systems, a source with direct knowledge tells Wired, which means anyone with access can view and have the ability to change all IRS data in one place. It is not clear who can access this system.
Foundry is a Palantir platform that can organize, build applications or run AI models on basic data. Once the data is organized and structured, Foundry’s “ontology” layer can generate APIs for faster connectivity and machine learning models. This will enable users to use AI to quickly query software to classify data through proxy, which will require AI systems to access this sensitive information.
Sources with direct knowledge told Wired that engineers responsible for completing API projects can be sure they can complete it within 30 days.
Palantir has signed billions of dollars in government contracts. The company provides businesses and governments with a variety of software tools, including foundries and Gotham, a data analysis tool mainly used in defense and intelligence. Palantir CEO Alex Karp recently mentioned the “damage” of Doge’s cost-cutting program and said: “Whatever is good for the U.S. is good for Americans and very good for Palantir.” Former Palantir workers have also taken over major government and Doge roles in recent months.
Wired is the first report that the IRS’s governor’s team held a “hacking marathon” in Washington, D.C. this week, to start the API project. The event begins Tuesday morning and ends Thursday afternoon. A source in the room this week explained that the event was “very unstructured.” On Tuesday, engineers wandered around the room, discussing how to achieve Doge’s goals.
The Ministry of Finance did not respond to a request for comment confirming Palantir’s role in the project.
“The Treasury is pleased to collect a team of long-time IRS engineers who have been identified as the most talented technicians. Through this alliance, they will simplify the IRS system and create the most effective services for U.S. taxpayers,” a fiscal spokesperson told Wired. “This week, the team attended the IRS Roadmap Tackle, a workshop for various strategic meetings, where they worked hard to create efficient systems. This new leadership and guidance will maximize its capabilities and act as a technical multiplier that the IRS needs for decades.”
