My main takeaway is that the corporations don't have the funds to waste on this and don't see the ROI (given how many large companies listed in the article stop

My main takeaway is that the corporations don't have the funds to waste on this and don't see the ROI (given how many large companies listed in the article stopped using Palantir) whereas the government does. Peter Thiel being a libertarian is clearly aware of the scale of government wastage and decides to go in for the win.