Alex Karp and I’d not appear to have a lot in widespread. I work for WIRED, which does powerful reporting on Trumpworld; Karp is the CEO of Palantir, a $450 billion agency that has contracts with companies just like the CIA and ICE and labored for the Israeli army throughout its marketing campaign in Gaza. I reside within the East Village of New York Metropolis, and the house Karp spends essentially the most time in is a 500-acre compound in rural New Hampshire. (Final yr he was one of many highest paid executives in america.) I used to be a plain previous English main, and he’s bought a legislation diploma and a PhD in philosophy, finding out beneath the legendary Jürgen Habermas. I think about myself a progressive; Karp regards that stuff as “pagan faith.”
However we are able to bond over one shared standing: Each of us are alumni of Central Excessive College, a Philadelphia magnet faculty. (Not on the identical time. I’ve some years on the 58-year-old govt.) Possibly it was that connection that led Karp to conform to a sit-down. The son of a Jewish pediatrician and a Black artist, Karp struggled with dyslexia, and at Central he appears to have turned a nook—even speculating now that overcoming the problem helped place him for later success.
We carried out our interview at an annual gathering of Palantir’s company clients. The occasion had the giddy vibe of a multilevel advertising summit. The shoppers I talked to—from giants like American Airways to comparatively modest household companies—stated that Palantir’s AI-powered programs are costly however nicely value it.
Not presenting on the occasion are the shoppers who present Palantir with nearly all of its enterprise—the US authorities and its allies. (The corporate doesn’t do enterprise with Russia or China.) Palantir was based to place Silicon Valley’s innovation into protection and authorities know-how. With coauthor Nicholas Zamiska (a Palantirian), Karp laid out his philosophy earlier this yr in a e book referred to as The Technological Republic, a surprisingly readable polemic that skewers Silicon Valley for inadequate patriotism. In Karp’s view, the antiestablishment tone of Apple’s Macintosh advertising was the unique sin in a tech tradition that celebrates indulgent individualism and neglects nationalist issues. On the convention, Karp, wearing a white T-shirt and denims, started his opening remarks by saying, “We’ve been at odds with Silicon Valley on and off since our inception 20 years in the past.” In 2020, Karp moved the corporate headquarters from Palo Alto to Denver, whereupon it grew to become that state’s wealthiest company.
Some see Karp as a dystopic supervillain. He responds to these critics aggressively, bluntly, and with out a shred of regret. After years of contracts, the corporate has apparently confirmed to the federal government’s satisfaction that its instruments can successfully leverage info on the battlefield and in intelligence operations. Palantir has a multimillion-dollar contract with ICE involving “concentrating on and enforcement”—basically serving to the company to find folks for deportation. In Ukraine, Karp says with delight, the corporate’s merchandise have helped ship deadly drive. Palantir has a Code of Conduct that supposedly binds the corporate to, amongst different issues, “defend privateness and civil liberties,” “defend the susceptible,” “respect human dignity,” and “protect and promote democracy.” In an open letter final Might, 13 former staff accused Palantir’s management of getting deserted its founding values and of being complicit in “normalizing authoritarianism beneath the guise of a ‘revolution’ led by oligarchs.” Karp has additionally revealed that different staff have left due to the corporate’s work with the Israel army. His retort: If you happen to’re not producing opposition, you’re most likely doing one thing improper.
Beneath his fiery protection of Palantir, I sense that Karp yearns to be understood. He famous that each one anybody needs to speak to him about is ICE, Israel, and Ukraine. I needed to go to these topics, too, and we did. However our dialog additionally touched on Donald Trump, democracy, and his love affair with German tradition. Oh, and Central Excessive.
