san francisco Alex Karp rarely goes public. Only a handful of media outlets have interviewed him, and he doesn’t usually even speak at his company’s investor conferences. Now, on Monday, the data analysis company Palantir published an open letter on the year 2021 from its CEO – without there having been a specific reason for it.
In it, Karp primarily philosophizes about his world view and the mission of his company. “We will not give up defending those who protect us,” he writes, indicating that he is proud of his company, which provides the American army, law enforcement agencies and secret services with its software for analyzing large amounts of data. After all, the authorities use it to fight terrorism and crime.
On the other hand, Karp criticizes those Silicon Valley companies that refuse or even make it difficult to cooperate with the military and law enforcement agencies. Karp does not name any specific examples in his letter, but has previously complained publicly several times about the “monoculture” in Silicon Valley that is critical of the army. This is also why Palantir moved its headquarters to Denver (Colorado) about two years ago.
Karp’s statement comes just days after another Palantir co-founder, Peter Thiel, made a name for himself. Thiel unexpectedly withdrew from the board of directors of the Facebook group Meta at the beginning of February. The investor and multiple entrepreneur – among other things, he founded the PayPal payment service together with Elon Musk – says he wants to focus on politics.
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It seems that both Thiel and Karp see the current political climate in the US as an opportunity and a need to make their points public.
Counterweight to Peter Thiel
However, Thiel and Karp belong to opposite political camps. Thiel says he is libertarian and supports Republicans, particularly former President Donald Trump and his entourage. Karp, on the other hand, describes himself as progressive in an interview with the US television network CNBC and donated $ 50,000 to Joe Biden’s election campaign.
Karp writes in his letter that most Silicon Valley companies would obscure or hush up the trade-offs between the legitimate use of new technologies for military purposes. Every new technology is potentially dangerous, “including ours”. Karp writes that software can be used as a weapon. “Life has been saved and taken as a result of our software products.”
In fact, it is suspected that Palantir’s data analyzes were used, among other things, to track down terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, at their secret locations. Bin Laden was subsequently killed by a US Army task force, ten years after the attack on the World Trade Center.
The fact that Karp is now actively addressing the potential effects of Palantir’s software on political and secret service events could be an impetus for a new discussion of the use of technologies in a military context – especially with regard to the current crisis surrounding Ukraine. However, no party or interest group has responded to Karp’s letter.
Similar to Thiel in his statements, Karp warns in his letter of divisions within American society. Karp not only sees a growing divide between tech companies and the military, but also a growing misunderstanding between the Defense Department and the US political elite.
The interests of the “ruling class” diverged more and more from those of the public, writes Karp. “The government elite does not bear the costs of defending our country.” He then adds that Palantir stands up for the interests of the army.
Palantir wins many new customers from the corporate sector
Palantir has been repeatedly criticized for years because the company operates in politically charged fields. In law enforcement, Palantir software is said to be used for “predictive policing” – ie for police work that uses data from previous crimes to predict future offenses. This is particularly controversial in the United States, where police have been criticized for prosecuting African Americans for crimes more often than whites. Because the data from the past would have a list, the result of the forecast will also have one, opponents fear. This could land more innocent people on suspect lists than necessary.
Palantir software is also said to have been used to identify and deport illegal immigrants. This triggered demonstrations against the company two years ago in New York, in Palo Alto and at several universities. After all, illegal immigrants in the USA have long been part of society and it is hard to imagine certain sectors of the economy such as the hospitality industry or agriculture without them.
In contrast, Palantir is currently gaining many new customers from the corporate sector. Airbus, Morgan Stanley, Fiat Chrysler and around 150 other companies work with Palantir. They use the software to visualize large amounts of data and thus increase their efficiency.
Depending on who you ask what makes Palantir special, you will get very different answers. For Karp, Palantir is a patriotic supplier who supports the government in protecting the population. For human rights activists, the company profits from crime and conflict. For private companies it is a simple subcontracting company.
More: Palantir: Much secrecy instead of open discourse