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We translated the Palantir manifesto for actual human beings
Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy We translated the Palantir manifesto for actual human beings What happens when an all-seeing eye looks in the mirror? What happens when an all-seeing eye looks in the mirror? by T.C. Sottek Close T.C. Sottek Executive Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by T.C. Sottek and Adi Robertson Close Adi Robertson Senior Editor, Tech & Policy Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Adi Robertson Apr 21, 2026, 9:06 PM UTC Link Share Gift Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Palantir CEO Alex Karp is a man in charge of one of the most important and frightening companies in the world. Karp’s new book, co-written with Nicholas Zamiska, is called “The Technological Republic.” After claiming “because we get asked a lot”, Palantir posted a 22-point summary of the book that reads like a corporate manifesto. It evokes both weird reactionary shit and also trilby-wearing Reddit comments from the early 2010s Palantir’s summary of the book is ominous. But even the company’s name is unironically ominous. The palantiri are crystal balls in Lord of the Rings that let Middle Earth’s worst tyrants spy on the heroes of the story. It’s a fun reference if you have no shame about your company’s mission. We’ve attempted to translate these 22 points from Alex Karp’s alien words into something more reasonable, like human words from someone who might play him in the biopic. (Hello, Taika Waititi). In so doing, we’ve become much more sympathetic to why Jurgen Habermas refused to supervise Karp’s research. 1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation. Translation: Silicon Valley has an enormous opportunity to extract as much money from federal government defense contracts as possible. To do this, we will bring back a draft for engineers. We’re really into bringing back the draft. Deepfaked teenagers, low-paid gig workers, and victims of the Rohingya Genocide need not apply. 2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible. Translation: We can’t say “we wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters” anymore because Elon Musk lets you write essays on Twitter now. Though if you thought the apps were tyrannical, wait until you get a load of us. 3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public. Translation: People are mad at tech billionaires for their obscene wealth and arrogance. Instead of winning them over by providing free access to a useful everyday service, we’re gonna sell a lot of software that will let the government spy on them while demanding tax cuts. 4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software. Translation: Words and feelings are free, which is why we want to sell weapons. Nobody got rich suing for peace. Trust in a CEO who studied the blade: 5. The question is not whether A.I. 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. Translation: “Soft power” and “ethics” are beta shit for Broadway shows and Dario Amodei . Hear that, Pete Hegseth? We’re warriors – pay up. But seriously. If our enemies have no oversight then why should we? The future is an AI battlefield and we need rules of engagement that let us cook. Which is to say: forget the rules of engagement. The government is not coming to save you – we are. The world is too dangerous for us to be governed by the law of armed conflict. Welcome to the 21st century: safety not guaranteed. 6. National service should be a universal duty. 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. Translation: We’re going to bring back the draft. Our vision of permanent war only works if we courageously volunteer people 40 years younger than us to die for oil. 7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a
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- Follow Follow See All Policy We translated the Palantir manifesto for actual human beings What happens when an all-seeing eye looks in the mirror?
- What happens when an all-seeing eye looks in the mirror?
- Sottek Executive Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
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