Palantir is not just a US technology company, but a software developer whose software is used primarily by government agencies, as well as commercial clients. Tracking the enemy, planning and managing the battlefield are Palantir’s core areas of focus. The company has access to vast databases of classified information, not only in the US but in many different countries simultaneously. It is often perceived as a company that profits from surveillance, war and human suffering.
It used to be people like Rockefeller or the titans of the steel industry, the owners of the railway companies, who influenced and shaped politics. Today, it is people like Musk who, through social media and their decisions, shape world events and stand shoulder to shoulder with politicians. These people have become arrogant; they are beginning to presume they know better how the state should function, and even what this new, brave new world should look like in their visions. Musk, for example, failed in his attempt to work hand in hand with Trump to cut public spending (particularly in the civil service), but his self-assurance regarding the direction the country should take remains immense. Palantir goes a step further and has published a manifesto setting out what makes the Silicon Valley movers and shakers tick and how they view the world.
It is a dystopian essay reminiscent of the works of Huxley or Orwell. Here are some key points from it:
- The limitations of soft power have been laid bare: moral appeals are no longer enough for free and democratic societies – they need hard power (Hardpower), and in this century, this will be built on software.
- The era of nuclear deterrence is coming to an end; the era of AI-based deterrence is beginning.
- The introduction of universal national conscription should be considered. Palantir justifies this on the grounds that the risks and costs of war must be borne by society as a whole.
- Some cultures bring about civilisational breaks, whilst others remain dysfunctional and regressive.
- Germany’s weakening went too far, and Europe is now paying a high price for it. Japan’s theatrical commitment to pacifism, if it continues, would jeopardise the balance of power in Asia.
- American politicians are powerless in the face of crime, which is why technology should step in where the state has failed.
So the decision-makers in Silicon Valley want an authoritarian state governed by AI, which is, after all, capable of making erroneous decisions – be it in the case of criminals or an attack on another country. The Belgian philosopher Mark Coeckelbergh writes aptly on this subject: “The danger lies not only in the overt talk of repression and incitement to war, but also in a more subtle transformation: the normalisation of surveillance, the delegation of judgements to opaque systems, and the quiet concentration of power in the hands of the few actors who design and control these infrastructures whilst simultaneously wielding global influence.”
To me, proposals such as those put forward by Palantir are nothing more than a call to increase the pool of ‘assets’ under the company’s control. The proposal for universal conscription aims to make society as a whole responsible for the war. A society whose children join the army is far more likely to accept astronomical budgets for systems such as Palantir – after all, nobody wants to send their loved ones to the front without the best technical support to minimise their risk. Furthermore, the call for the remilitarisation of countries, the fuelling of hostility towards other societies, and AI-based weapons all serve one purpose: more power and money for the techno-political tandem, and more chaos to enable them to take control of everything. It would be a veritable ‘brave new world’ with a narrative of constant threat, where governments would be reliant on the digital infrastructure that Palantir will provide. How lovely!
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