Architects of the future

Palantir Technologies is a company that seems to have stepped out of a dystopian novel - it is an unusual combination of Silicon Valley, intelligence services and the security apparatus. It was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel - a billionaire inclined to challenge universal values ​​and the idea, for example, that rules apply equally to everyone - and a small group of technological idealists, and from the very beginning it had the ambition to "see what is hidden".

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The company's name comes from the universe The Lord of the Rings, in which the "palantirs" are mystical orbs through which the supreme evil wizard Sauron oversees the world - a symbolism that is not accidental when you consider the nature of the company and what it does. Palantir is not just a technology company that offers its products to various industries, ranging from defense and finance to healthcare and logistics. It is also the product of a specific world view. In its foundations, the influence of the ideas circulating around its founder can be felt: a departure from liberal-democratic ideals, a fascination with new hierarchies and techno-elites who "see further", as well as a belief that complex social systems can be understood - and that they can be managed - through data.

SOFTWARE AS THE KEY TO SECURITY

The ideology articulated by Palantir, say Alex Karp and Nick Zamiska in the book Technological Republic, starts from the thesis that we are entering a new era, the era of the end of the self-satisfied and self-confident West. As the authors claim, liberal democracies, relying on the assumption of permanent dominance, have forgotten what it means to "have power", that is, how power is built and maintained in modern, technologically shaped conditions. The publication is structured in four main parts that argue for the need to re-align the Western technology sector with national security interests.

The book argues that we are entering a "new era of deterrence" based on artificial intelligence and software, where technological superiority becomes the key to security. The authors argue for a stronger connection between the technology industry and the state, following the example of historical projects such as the space program and the development of nuclear technologies. Karp and Nicholas V. Zamiska, his deputy at Palantir, warn that the West has become ideologically "softened", which has weakened its strategic position, especially due to "intellectual weakness" in Silicon Valley. They also present a broader cultural critique, claiming that excessive tolerance leads to the loss of value support and, at the same time, suggesting that some cultures are "regressive", while others have brought key civilizational advances. Finally, the book promotes a practical approach: the application of AI in security and the introduction of an "engineering mindset" into the public sector.

However, precisely in that rhetoric and the search for "sobering" of the West and America, something much deeper and potentially more dangerous is hidden: an attempt to redefine the relationship between technology, the state and the individual.

THE COMING OF A NEW ERA

In their vision of the future - laid out through a publicly released summary of the book in the 22-point manifesto on the official Palantir X account - the world is entering an era in which ideas, diplomacy and economic interdependence lose their primacy, and the ability to produce and apply technological power becomes crucial. In this way, software becomes a weapon, and engineers become a new strategic elite. It is a fundamental break with the discourse in which the technology sector liked to see itself rather as a neutral innovator, an almost apolitical actor. Here, on the contrary, an open classification is required: technology must serve the state, and primarily its security and military interests.

The Palantir company is "killingly" active today: from the battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza, all the way to the conflict between America and Israel against Iran. Their AI systems are not just sophisticated tools but manifestations of a terrifying, dehumanizing logic that brings brute efficiency devoid of any ethical framework. It is a calculated coldness that reduces human existence to mere data, projecting a digital wasteland that seems to have emerged directly from Dante's abyss of hell (see "Algorithm on the Front Line", "Time" No. 1809).

Palantir's systems, designed for government agencies and large corporations, aren't just about analyzing and collecting data—they're redefining who has the right to see, interpret, and act on that data. In that zone between technology and ideology, Palantir is one of the bearers of the new infrastructure of a world where transparency is not universal, but is the privilege of those who manage the system. And that only shows how much this company is seen as an extension of the analytical and operational capacities of the state.

WHO CONTROLS THE CONTROLLERS??

This kind of organization of the world does not come without consequences. When private companies become key bearers of state power – when they develop systems for surveillance, data analysis, warfare and crisis management – ​​the line between public and private begins to blur. Responsibility becomes diffused, and power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of actors who are not directly subject to democratic or even judicial control - because the question is, what would be the criminal responsibility of Palantir officials if their systems, which are purchased by states and government agencies, are proven to be used in military operations with mass civilian casualties?

Today, Palantir is valued at more than 360 billion dollars, which is disproportionately higher compared to its revenues (four billion), a difference that is largely explained by stable and lucrative contracts with the US and other governments, as well as various security institutions. After all, in July of last year, only the US Army awarded the Palantir company a ten-year umbrella contract, the total value of which reaches 10 billion dollars.

Book Technological Republic starts from the thesis that the era of soft power and free digital services is over, and that the engineering elite of Silicon Valley has a "moral debt to the country that enabled its rise" and an "obligation to participate in the defense of the nation", directing its capacities towards the development of defense technologies and AI systems, before its geopolitical opponents do. Political and social life, the authors advocate, must be transformed: society should insist on a stronger state, economic growth, constant mobilization, "universal military service" and the rehabilitation of allies such as Germany and Japan. At the core of this narrative is the belief that American power is the only barrier against global chaos, and that progress can only be preserved if society resists "empty pluralism."

MILITARIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

For Germany and Japan, the post-war identity was not an accidental construction, but a consciously constructed framework in which economics, diplomacy and so-called "soft power" replaced military force as the primary instruments of influence. Such a model enabled decades of stability and a specific, newly built moral legitimacy of those states on the international stage. However, the message of the Palantir manifesto is clear: such an identity is no longer enough. This also creates a deep civilizational turn - a return to logic in which military power once again becomes the central expression of state power. At the same time, a more pragmatic calculation can be sensed behind this idea. Strengthening the military capacities of the allies implies a strategy in which the US seeks to relieve its own resources and distribute part of the risks, costs and potential conflicts to a wider bloc of states.

The attitude towards artificial intelligence is particularly indicative. The book's authors dismiss the dilemma of whether AI should be militarized; for them it is already a settled issue. The real question is who will do it first and most effectively. This introduces the logic of inevitability: if "we" do not develop these systems, someone else will. Such logic has been seen historically and has driven arms races throughout the 20th century. Now this global race takes on a whole new dimension, because it is not only about weapons but about infrastructure that can permeate the entire society.

LOYAL TO THE STATE AND TRADE

Although Alex Karp and Nicholas Zamiska present their technologies as a practical answer to contemporary security and political challenges, analysts indicate that their idea of ​​"peace through force" can be read as a message aligned with the policy of the new administration of Donald Trump, which opens the possibility for further deepening of cooperation through lucrative state contracts. In the context of the recent decision to exclude the rival AI company Antropik from the Pentagon's program due to its refusal to participate in the development of systems for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, Palantir's performance can be interpreted as a marketing strategy, but also as a signal of political loyalty.

When all of the above is connected to the rest of the manifesto - especially the insistence on close cooperation between technology companies and the state - the bigger picture begins to emerge: it is an essential call for a review of the order created after the Second World War. And the "brakes" that were intended to prevent the emergence of a new international hegemon are seen as obstacles that need to be overcome. The discomfort that such a vision causes arises not only from the fear of conflict but from the implicit message that the lessons of the 20th century may no longer apply to the 21st century.

WHAT IS SAVED?, IN ACTUALITY?

Because of all this, it is not surprising that some critics recognize the outlines of a "techno-authoritarian" or even "techno-fascist" order in this vision. Not because it directly advocates repression in the classical sense, but because it lays the foundations of a system in which total control is achieved subtly, through technology. Instead of open force, there are algorithms; instead of ideological indoctrination, there is data analysis and predictive modeling of human behavior.

History teaches us that any concentration of power carries the risk of abuse. This is precisely why such ideas require not only analysis but also serious public discussion. Because the question that "Palantir" opens in the book Technological Republic” and its manifesto is not only a question of the mechanics of the “survival of the West” but also a broader vision of the society that we are trying to preserve in general.

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