Palantir, the tech firm that arguably has become synonymous with the president’s authoritarian surveillance dreams, has released a manifesto that boils the company’s dystopian dreams down to a series of bullet points.
The bad news is that we live in a world where government-backed tech companies apparently feel shameless in expressing such desires.
The good news is that in their hubris, some tech executives are making their plans clear as day, for all the world to see.
And the assertions Palantir offered up — attributed in part to CEO Alex Karp — amount to a hot mess of contradictions and deranged declarations. Netizens across the political spectrum have denounced the post on X, with some calling it a “fascist manifesto.”
Right-wing influencer Owen Shroyer wrote on X that the manifesto shows Palantir is “building a New World Order with AI as it’s brainstem.”
Some parts of the manifesto echo white nationalist talking points about the supposed virtue of Western cultures. For example, the post calls out cultural “inclusivity” and “pluralism,” and it claims that some cultures have proved to be “middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.”
That kind of xenophobic rhetoric is ingrained in Palantir’s DNA: Extremist co-founder Joe Lonsdale has said the company was created to save “Western civilization” from “communists and Islamists.”
Lonsdale has also said public hangings for some violent criminals would bring back “masculine leadership.” Perhaps that’s what Palantir’s manifesto means when it says “Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime.”
Palantir’s CEO told investors early last year that the company “is here to disrupt. And, when it’s necessary, to scare our enemies and, on occasion, kill them.” It’s certainly odd, then, that the manifesto says: “Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies.”
“The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice,” the manifesto adds.
Despite this dovish rhetoric, Palantir — as one might expect from a tech company that benefits from military spending — portrayed military conflict, and the need for military spending, as if it’s an inevitability. In one of the most controversial assertions, it calls for “national service” to be a “universal duty,” suggesting the draft should be reinstated.
“We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost,” the manifesto says.
The post also makes an argument for engaging in an AI arms race, saying the “limits of soft power” — that is, diplomacy absent military engagement — have been “exposed.”
“The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose,” the manifesto says.
But that’s not necessarily true. Artificial intelligence ethicists have warned about this kind of AI doomerism, saying it benefits tech companies — such as Palantir — that stand to profit from increased investment in AI tools.
In reality, the Biden administration sought to build an international consensus around the use of AI — and President Donald Trump’s Palantir-aligned regime has all but abandoned those efforts as it has sought to deregulate the industry.
The backlash Palantir is facing over its manifesto is indicative of growing opposition to the company’s ties with Trump’s military and mass deportation agenda. Activists have pressured states to divest from the company and sought to have lawmakers return its donations.
And it seems the administration is feeling the heat as well. The surest sign is that last week, when the company’s stock price took a dive, the president personally touted Palantir’s stock as if he were hawking a product on QVC.
“Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Just ask our enemies!!!”
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.