Palantir Technologies Inc. was officially incorporated in May 2003 by Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp. The company was named after the 'seeing stone' in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium.

In 2004, Peter Thiel bankrolled the creation of a prototype by PayPal engineer Nathan Gettings and Stanford University students Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen for Palantir Technologies. The company initially struggled to find investors, with early investments coming from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital arm In-Q-Tel and Thiel himself.

In 2005, Palantir found an unlikely partner in the Central Intelligence Agency, which became a customer. This partnership marked a turning point for Palantir, leading to more U.S. government agencies becoming customers.

On November 23, 2006, Palantir received US$ 10,522,859 in its second funding round, with Reed Elsevier Ventures as an investor, further supporting its goal of utilizing technology to address terrorism and civil liberties.

In 2009, Palantir Technologies was involved in uncovering GhostNet and the Shadow Network, showcasing the company's capabilities in cybersecurity and intelligence analysis.

Vice President Joe Biden and OMB Director Peter Orszag announced the success of fighting fraud in the stimulus by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, crediting Palantir software. The software was deployed by the federal government and later at other agencies like Medicare and Medicaid.

On June 25, 2010, Palantir received US$ 90,000,000 in Series D financing at a $735 million valuation, with Founders Fund as the lead investor.

In January 2011, Palantir announced its sixth funding round, securing additional financial support for its operations and growth.

In May 2011, Palantir successfully raised $50 million in a funding round.

On October 1, 2012, Palantir raised US$56,000,000 in a funding round.

On January 1, 2013, Palantir raised US$4,080,266 in a funding round.

In September 27, 2013, Palantir raised a total of US$ 196,500,000 in a funding round.

On February 14, 2014, Palantir raised a total of US$ 111,306,601 in a funding round.

On July 29, 2014, Palantir acquired Poptip, a New York-based startup specializing in processing data from social media.

In July 31, 2014, Palantir acquired Propeller, a startup specializing in tools for creating native mobile apps.

On August 6, 2014, Palantir was recognized as one of the top 10 most valuable startups globally, with an estimated value of approximately US$9.3 billion.

On September 12, 2014, Palantir successfully secured a funding round of US$444,184,042.

On December 12, 2014, Palantir raised an additional US$50,000,000 in a funding round.

On February 6, 2015, Palantir acquired FT Technologies to enhance its analytics platform by incorporating retail and shopping data. FT Technologies specialized in assisting retailers with strategies for various sales channels including physical stores, online platforms, and mobile applications.

Palantir discloses selling $880 million worth of stock in funding, resulting in bankers Morgan Stanley and S F Sentry Securities sharing $32 million in commissions.

Palantir acquires Kimono Labs, Inc, a webscraping startup known for its browser-based tool that enables data extraction from web pages without extensive programming skills.

A press release from a Hong Kong-based company, CoinFac, claims to introduce quantum computing technology into cryptocurrency mining, allegedly owned by Palantir. Palantir refutes the ownership and denies any connection, urging CoinFac to remove references to them.

In August 2016, Palantir acquired the Dutch data visualization startup Silk. The members of the Silk team were announced to join Palantir in new roles, while the service silk.co would be phased out.

In September 2016, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs filed a lawsuit against Palantir alleging discrimination against Asian job applicants. Palantir settled the suit in April 2017 for $1.7 million without admitting wrongdoing.

In January 2017, German multinational chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck partners with Palantir to utilize its software for analyzing pharmaceutical, life sciences, and chemical data to expedite product development and delivery.

Palantir issued an apology for a WikiLeaks attack proposal and decided to sever ties with HBGary, demonstrating their commitment to ethical practices.

Palantir achieved a valuation of $15 billion as it sought additional funds in November 2017.

Palantir Technologies secured $880 million in funding at a valuation of $20 billion in November 2017.

On October 18, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Palantir was considering an IPO in the first half of 2019 following a $41 billion valuation.

In 2019, Palantir assumed control of the Pentagon's Project Maven contract after Google opted out of further developing AI unmanned drones for military purposes.

Palantir went public on the New York Stock Exchange through a direct public offering on September 30, 2020 under the ticker symbol 'PLTR'.

On January 27, 2021, Palantir Technologies stock reached its all-time high closing price of 39.00. This marked a significant milestone for the company in the stock market.

As of March 31, 2021, Thiel Capital LLC holds the largest ownership stake in Palantir Technologies Inc. with 16.9% ownership. Thiel Capital is a venture capital firm established by Peter Thiel, who is also a co-founder of Palantir.

Google Trends highlighted the interest in Palantir Technologies along with Verint Systems, Splunk Technology, and Cognizant. The data indicated a surge in online searches related to these tech companies.

On February 18, 2022, Energy Vault had an exit from Palantir Technologies.

A joint venture agreement was signed between Hyundai Heavy Industries and Palantir Technologies in November 2023.

In early 2024, the Israeli defense sector opted for Palantir's solutions over domestic alternatives. This decision highlights Palantir's growing influence and reputation in the field of defense technology.

On March 28, 2024, the stock price of Palantir Technologies was recorded at $23.01.