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British Museum Under Fire Over Private Thiel Tapestry Preview
(MENAFN) The British Museum arranged a private preview of the Bayeux Tapestry for billionaire tech investor and Palantir founder Peter Thiel earlier this month, ahead of the artifact's public unveiling, according to a report published Monday.
Charlotte Appleyard, the museum's director of development, hosted Thiel for the VIP viewing in the exhibition space on Aug. 18 — roughly a month before the exhibit opens to the public — media reported.
A museum source told the British daily that the visit did take place, and that museum Chair George Osborne was aware of the viewing but did not join Thiel for it.
The report noted that senior museum leaders had been cautioned about how the visit might be perceived publicly, given Thiel's ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his role atop Palantir, whose software company plays a contentious role in the UK.
Palantir Technologies, the US artificial intelligence and data analytics firm, has drawn sharp criticism over its business with Israel since it announced a strategic partnership with Israel's Defense Ministry in January 2024 to supply technology for war-related operations.
Per the report, some museum staff raised concerns that limited "lux hours" allotted to the tapestry — a combined measure of light intensity and exposure time used to track and cap cumulative light damage to sensitive artifacts — were spent on someone with "no known interest in the museum."
Open Intel, a platform that monitors corporate involvement in what it calls the "genocidal war on Gaza," alleges that Palantir has recruited former members of Unit 8200, Israel's elite cyberintelligence unit.
The group further claims that Palantir's software fuses intercepted communications, satellite imagery, and other data streams to help Israeli forces compile military target lists.
Charlotte Appleyard, the museum's director of development, hosted Thiel for the VIP viewing in the exhibition space on Aug. 18 — roughly a month before the exhibit opens to the public — media reported.
A museum source told the British daily that the visit did take place, and that museum Chair George Osborne was aware of the viewing but did not join Thiel for it.
The report noted that senior museum leaders had been cautioned about how the visit might be perceived publicly, given Thiel's ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his role atop Palantir, whose software company plays a contentious role in the UK.
Palantir Technologies, the US artificial intelligence and data analytics firm, has drawn sharp criticism over its business with Israel since it announced a strategic partnership with Israel's Defense Ministry in January 2024 to supply technology for war-related operations.
Per the report, some museum staff raised concerns that limited "lux hours" allotted to the tapestry — a combined measure of light intensity and exposure time used to track and cap cumulative light damage to sensitive artifacts — were spent on someone with "no known interest in the museum."
Open Intel, a platform that monitors corporate involvement in what it calls the "genocidal war on Gaza," alleges that Palantir has recruited former members of Unit 8200, Israel's elite cyberintelligence unit.
The group further claims that Palantir's software fuses intercepted communications, satellite imagery, and other data streams to help Israeli forces compile military target lists.
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