USA Today Co. partners with Palantir to analyze reader data for ads and subscriptions

USA Today Co. is partnering with Palantir to analyze customer and reader data for monetization, including tailored ads and subscription pricing, Poynter reported from the company's second-quarter earnings call. CEO Mike Reed said Palantir's artificial intelligence and software can deliver in weeks or months capabilities that would take considerably longer to build internally. USA Today Media president Kristin Roberts said the company previously matched affiliate product links to stories mostly by hand and now plans to automate and expand that matching across more content from titles including The Arizona Republic and Detroit Free Press. Reed said data remain USA Today Co. property and that intelligence actions run on the company's platform. Spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said editorial decisions stay independent and that partners must meet data-security standards. Poynter noted Palantir's contested government contracts, including a May 2025 USA Today report on a $30 million no-bid ICE deal. Reed also said the company must format content for humans and machines amid changing search behavior.