For immediate release: Aug. 10, 2026
Contact: Jen Sheehan, jen@nyguild.org, 610-573-0740
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We, USA TODAY CO. (formerly Gannett) workers represented by The NewsGuild-CWA, were shocked to learn that our company has partnered with Palantir. While USA TODAY CO. CEO Mike Reed championed this partnership as a way to drive revenue, we believe it threatens to undermine trust in our news outlets and raises serious questions about the data security of our readers.
We have significant ethical issues with Palantir, whose artificial intelligence (A.I.) software has been used to advance widespread surveillance and power immigration crackdowns. Not only does partnering with Palantir, a major player in the news we cover, create an inherent conflict of interest, but it fails the journalists who have been assaulted and falsely arrested while covering immigration enforcement actions and protests.
USA TODAY CO. has provided minimal details about this partnership and the parameters of its agreement with Palantir. We have serious concerns and questions about how readers’ personal information and data will be used under this partnership and how their data would be protected. Without answers, how can journalists encourage readers to subscribe to our news outlets?
Our commitment to upholding First Amendment principles to serve the democratic process is in direct contrast with a company like Palantir, whose cofounder, Peter Thiel, once said freedom and democracy were not compatible, and whose technologies have been tied to human rights abuses and surveillance activities.
Technologists and even former employees have warned that it’s not far-fetched to imagine a future where Palantir’s A.I. technology is used to surveil American citizens and target dissidents. And throughout history, journalists are often the first to be targeted.
These concerns should be reason enough for USA TODAY CO. to steer clear. We should be acting with the kind of responsibility and skepticism that the nation’s largest network of journalists should exhibit.
This partnership with Palantir arrives as USA TODAY CO. executives dive headfirst into A.I. without sufficient regard for workers or the public after decimating newsrooms across the country.
We will continue pushing back on ill-planned attempts to force A.I. into our newsrooms and onto our readers, who deserve quality, human-led journalism. We will advocate for the responsible use of new technologies when it emboldens our journalists and their work instead of shamelessly promoting A.I. to support profit-driven corporate edicts.
We will continue fighting for transparency and quality journalism for our readers without compromising their trust.
We call on USA TODAY CO. to immediately end its partnership with Palantir.
Signed,
Akron Beacon Journal Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 34001) (Akron Beacon Journal, Record-Courier)
APP-MCJ Guild (TNG-CWA 31003) (Asbury Park Press, Courier News, Home News Tribune)
Arizona Republic Guild (TNG-CWA 39213) (Arizona Republic)
Boston Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 31245) (Patriot Ledger, Herald News)
Courier Journal Guild (TNG-CWA 34070) (Courier-Journal)
Newspaper Guild of Detroit (TNG-CWA 34022) (Detroit Free Press, Detroit News)
Desert Sun News Guild (TNG-CWA 39213) (Desert Sun)
Dispatch News Guild (TNG-CWA 34001) (Columbus Dispatch, Newark Advocate)
Erie News Guild (TNG-CWA 38187) (Erie Times-News)
Eugene Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 37194) (Register-Guard)
Evansville News Guild (TNG-CWA 34070) (Courier & Press)
Florida Times-Union Guild (TNG-CWA 3108) (Florida Times-Union)
Hudson Valley News Guild (TNG-CWA 31003) (Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal, Times Herald-Record)
Indianapolis NewsGuild (TNG-CWA 34070) (Indianapolis Star)
Ledger News Guild (TNG-CWA 3108) (The Ledger)
Memphis Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 33091) (Commercial Appeal)
Milwaukee News Guild (TNG-CWA 34051) (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sheboygan Press)
Palm Beach News Guild (TNG-CWA 3108) (Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News)
Peoria Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 36047) (Peoria Journal Star)
NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia (TNG-CWA 38010) (News Journal, Courier Times, Intelligencer, Delaware Online)
Providence Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 31041) (Providence Journal, Telegram & Gazette, Enterprise)
Pueblo News Guild (TNG-CWA 37074) (Pueblo Chieftain)
The Record Guild (TNG-CWA 31003) (The Record, New Jersey Herald, Daily Record)
Newspaper Guild of Rochester (TNG-CWA 31003) (Democrat & Chronicle, Daily Messenger)
Sarasota Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 3108) (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
South Bend Tribune Guild (TNG-CWA 34071) (South Bend Tribune)
SJ-R Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 36047) (State Journal-Register)
Southwest Florida News Guild (TNG-CWA 3108) (Naples Daily News. News-Press)
Springfield News Guild (TNG-CWA 36047) (Springfield News-Leader)
Utica News Guild (TNG-CWA 31003) (Observer-Dispatch, Times Telegram)
Washington-Baltimore News Guild (TNG-CWA 32025) (York Daily Record)