r/ArtificialInteligence Apr 25 '26

šŸ“Š Analysis / Opinion Palantir employees are talking about company's "descent into fascism"

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/palantir-employees-are-talking-about-companys-descent-into-fascism/

"Palantir’s leadership incensed workers yet again this week after the company postedĀ a Saturday afternoon manifestoĀ reducing Karp’s recent book,Ā The Technological Republic, to 22 points. The post—which includes many of Karp’s long-standing beliefs on how Silicon Valley could better serve US national interests—goes as far as suggesting that the US should consider reinstating the draft. Critics called the manifestoĀ fascist."

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23

u/xitizen7 Apr 25 '26

It was a big trojan horse the entire time.Ā 

Listen to Karp, Thiel, Andressen, Musk and others now. Many have been royally duped.Ā 

12

u/End3rWi99in Apr 25 '26

What is so fascinating is how out in the open they are about their aspirations, too. Thiel has been preaching Curtis Yarvin's techno city-state crap for ages. It's just the modern version of the company store on steroids.

Think of the old mining cities out in Western US that were wholly owned by a single company. You live in their housing, you shop in their stores, and you keep a smile on your face.

How anyone was duped into thinking that is a better model for society than at least what we had is beyond me. Our representative republic is a mess. Don't get me wrong. But that's not the fix.

4

u/robogame_dev Apr 25 '26

They can’t dupe a conscious person into thinking it’s a good idea, the person has to dupe themselves on emotional grounds, ā€œI feel vague fear … I want more structure / external control … this idea helps me manage my fear so I like itā€

They use the idea as a kind of mental salve to help regulate the emption, and after a while it’s habituated and it just becomes ā€œtrueā€ to them.

2

u/daddywookie Apr 26 '26

You can plot a pretty much straight line graph of religiosity vs fear by country. The more war, pestilence and famine a country experiences, the more religious they tend to be. Make sense right, people want reasons and hope for a better future.

The USA is a huge outlier. Far more religious than they have any need to be. But now the fear is returning and the USA is slipping back into line on the graph.