Palantir vs Scale AI: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Palantir reported $4.5B of revenue in FY2025 and $1.6B of net income. Scale AI reported $870M of revenue in FY2024 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Palantir
Palantir lost money for most of its history: it reported a $1.17 billion net loss in 2020, the year it listed. It first reached GAAP profitability in Q4 2022 and has been profitable every year since: $209.8 million net income in 2023, $462.2 million in 2024 and $1.625 billion in 2025. In Q2 2026, revenue of $1.935 billion produced a 62% adjusted operating margin and $1.22 billion of adjusted free cash flow, and the company held $9.2 billion of cash and short-term Treasuries. Full-year 2026 guidance calls for $4.5-$4.7 billion of adjusted free cash flow.
Scale AI
Scale is private and does not publish audited results. Bloomberg reported about $870 million of revenue in 2024 and a target near $2 billion for 2025 before the Meta deal. After OpenAI and Google pulled back, that target looked out of reach, but CEO Jason Droege wrote in early 2026 that 2025 was Scale's biggest revenue year, with more than $1 billion in new business and nearly half of bookings in Q4. The company valued itself at more than $29 billion in the June 2025 Meta transaction, up from $13.8 billion in its May 2024 Series F. Net income has not been disclosed, though Scale says the data business is now profitable.
Revenue and profit by year
Palantir
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $4.5B | $1.6B | 36.3% | +56.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $2.9B | $462.2M | 16.1% | +28.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2.2B | $209.8M | 9.4% | +16.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $1.9B | -$373.7M | -19.6% | +23.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $1.5B | -$520.4M | -33.7% | +41.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | $1.1B | -$1.2B | -106.7% | +47.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $742.6M | -$579.6M | -78.1% | +24.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | $595.4M | -$580M | -97.4% | — | Source |
Scale AI
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $870M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Palantir
- Government
51% (Q2 2026: $990M)
Software for U.S. and allied defense, intelligence and civil agencies. U.S. government revenue was $809 million in Q2 2026, up 90%.
- Commercial
49% (Q2 2026: $945M)
Foundry and AIP for enterprises. U.S. commercial revenue was $764 million in Q2 2026, up 149%.
Scale AI
- Data business
Not disclosed
Training data, RL environments, robotics data and evaluations for AI labs and large technology companies; profitable since the second half of 2025, per the company.
- Applications: enterprise
Not disclosed
Generative AI applications for companies such as Mayo Clinic, BP and Allianz.
- Applications: public sector
Not disclosed
AI programs for the U.S. Department of War and international governments including Qatar, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Business model and strategy
Palantir
How it makes money
Palantir earns money by licensing and hosting four software platforms under multi-year contracts. Gotham serves defense and intelligence agencies; Foundry integrates operational data for companies; Apollo deploys and updates software across cloud, on-premise and classified environments; and AIP connects large language models to customer data through Palantir's Ontology.
Growth strategy
Palantir's growth plan rests on three things: AIP bootcamps that turn pilots into production contracts in days, larger defense programs (Maven Smart System, TITAN, Army enterprise agreements), and expansion within existing customers. U.S. commercial customer count rose to 653 in Q2 2026, up 35% year over year, and total customers reached 1,049.
Competitive advantage
Palantir's edge combines security accreditation, entrenched deployments and the Ontology data model. Its software is accredited for classified U.S. government work, which new entrants spend years trying to earn. Programs such as the Army's TITAN ground station ($178.4 million award in 2024) and the Maven Smart System put Palantir deep inside military workflows, which raises switching costs.
Scale AI
How it makes money
Scale AI earns money in two ways. Its data business charges AI labs and large technology companies for training data, reinforcement learning environments and model evaluations, produced by software pipelines plus a paid contributor network run through Outlier and Remotasks; the company says it has paid contributors more than $1 billion over ten years.
Growth strategy
Scale's 2026 plan, as described by its leadership, is to move technical capabilities from the data business into applications faster, invest in a unified AI-native platform for enterprise and government customers, and expand abroad. It opened or grew offices in New York, London, Washington, D.C., Doha, St.
Competitive advantage
Scale's advantages are scale, track record and government access. It has applied what it calls 15 billion human decisions to train leading models across 150 languages and locales, it runs SEAL benchmarks such as Humanity's Last Exam and SWE-Bench Pro that labs cite at launch, and it holds U.S.
Questions about Palantir vs Scale AI
Which company has higher revenue — Palantir Technologies Inc. or Scale AI, Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc. reported $4.5B (FY2025), while Scale AI, Inc. reported $870.0M (FY2024). By last reported revenue, Palantir Technologies Inc. is the larger business, with Scale AI, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Palantir Technologies Inc. vs Scale AI, Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc. has a market capitalisation of $447.0B. A public market cap figure for Scale AI, Inc. was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — Palantir Technologies Inc. or Scale AI, Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc. generates $1.01M / employee in revenue per employee, while Scale AI, Inc. generates $725k / employee. Palantir Technologies Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Palantir Technologies Inc. and Scale AI, Inc. make money?
Palantir Technologies Inc. and Scale AI, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Palantir Technologies Inc.: Palantir earns money by licensing and hosting four software platforms under multi-year contracts. Scale AI, Inc.: Scale AI earns money in two ways.
Is Palantir Technologies Inc. bigger than Scale AI, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Palantir Technologies Inc. ($4.5B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Scale AI, Inc. ($870.0M (FY2024)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Palantir vs Scale AI overview