Another X user called Palantir an “absolutely demented” and “highly dangerous” organisation that represents a “sinister corporate threat to democracies and their collective sovereignties”.
The post suggested that the development of AI weapons is unavoidable, urging Silicon Valley to take a more active role in national defence. “The question is not whether AI weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose.”
“Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed,” it said.
Most controversially, the manifesto asserts that “some cultures have produced vital advances while others remain dysfunctional and regressive”, language that reeks of civilisational supremacism by ranking entire cultures and subcultures in a hierarchy of worth.
The viral post ends with a not-so-subtle plug for the book and criticises “the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism.”
Palantir’s platforms like Gotham and Foundry already integrate massive datasets for intelligence, targeting, and law enforcement. Critics fear the manifesto normalises rolling out these tools domestically, creating a permanent surveillance architecture where AI monitors, predicts, and “neutralises” threats in everyday life, eroding privacy and individual liberty under the guise of security and “hard power.”
Karp has a track record of controversial views. He has repeatedly defended the company’s work with ICE, Israel, and the US military.
He has described Palantir’s mission as helping to “scare enemies and on occasion, kill them.”
Related
Palantir has long been slammed as a surveillance behemoth that profits from human suffering. Its platforms power ICE’s aggressive deportation machine, enabling mass tracking and raids on migrants and asylum seekers in ways human rights groups like Amnesty International have condemned as enabling serious abuses.
Even more damning, the company’s AI tools have been linked to Israel’s military aggressions in Gaza, including systems accused of feeding “kill lists” and automated targeting.
