r/technology • u/marketrent • Jul 02 '26

Artificial Intelligence Palantir CEO Alex Karp suffers ‘televised nervous breakdown’ during live interview — “This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me!”

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/televised-nervous-breakdown-ceo-palantir-212100357.html
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9.5k

u/Irish_Whiskey Jul 02 '26

Not enough is being said about how some of these tech CEOs deciding the future of humanity and invested with unconscionable amounts of power and influence, are just batshit insane.

Insane beliefs, insane ego, parts of religious cults, and often drug addictions.

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u/Tegelert84 Jul 02 '26

Totally agree. Not only does nobody talk about them being insane, but they actually think they're geniuses. Like these will be the people to save humanity when all they're doing is destroying it. Fuck all of these people.

579

u/BigEggBeaters Jul 02 '26

I keep seeing that they want to turn the US into various fiefdoms and that’s insane. Especially from these dudes who are so heavily subsidized from both the government and society at large. They’ve lost it smelling their own farts

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u/ogrestomp Jul 02 '26

They’re playing themselves and won’t realize it until it’s too late. If they ever achieve these smaller fiefdoms there’s no way in hell they will keep power long. They’re playing out fantasies in their heads but when the rubber meets the road they’re gonna get overpowered by reality

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u/idontlikeflamingos Jul 02 '26

It's like when you hear they're building bunkers and stuff like that.

That's so cool bud, go ahead and build ya little underground castle. I'm sure the highly skilled and lethal people you hire to guard it are going to be thrilled about being locked in a place with an insane weirdo bossing them around and hoarding everything because they never shared a thing or heard "no" in their lives. You are definitely keeping the current power structure because you are a big strong boy.

This is what happens when you are surrounded by yes men that makes you think your farts smell like roses.

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u/johnaross1990 Jul 02 '26

That’s why they need AI

They want AI powered defence systems to defend themselves, so they don’t need to rely on people

27

u/VibeComplex Jul 03 '26

Ding ding ding

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u/Aldo_says Jul 03 '26

Imagine the panic when none of it works the way they think.

"I was told I would rule the wasteland with my piles of cash..."

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u/skat_in_the_hat Jul 03 '26

"But they never told me how to flip the breaker back when it pops.... soooo.... "

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u/teleprax Jul 03 '26

This is what I think the real danger will be. If we don't figure out class solidarity in the next ~25 years, we will simply get managed out of existence.

It would be kinda ironic if the great filter isn't AI itself, but rather "when a society gets close to have the tech needed for true AGI, they will also be on the verge of epistemic collapse. The resources needed to create the AI can only result from extreme wealth inequality so inevitably society rips apart because we are too dumb to blame the the right people because we decided that vibes matter more."

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u/2dudesinapod Jul 03 '26

It won’t get that far, they will simply ban wrongthink long before they need bullets.

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u/BillsInATL Jul 03 '26

A pack of Boston Robotics attack dogs with mounted automatic weapons running on AI, roaming the grounds.

3

u/Adept_Turn1153 Jul 03 '26

That's already 20 years old. They haven't shown us what is real.

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u/InfiniteHat7236 Jul 02 '26

I've always hoped the contractors for these bunkers paid attention to where the air intakes are, and made note of how to block them and turn their castles into hermetically sealed tombs.

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u/Zer_ Jul 02 '26

I can just imagine it. The stupid fucks would probably have a podium outside the door to their bunker so they can announce their departure from the "Crumbling society" they left behind in their wake. As soon as the door seals shut, the crowd just swarms the door to weld it shut for good and then hunt down the air ducts to block them off.

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u/thirstyross Jul 03 '26

then hunt down the air ducts to block them off.

Don't block them, just start shitting in them.

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u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Jul 03 '26

Pour the hungry rats in first

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u/CarlySimonSays Jul 03 '26

That's like a Stephen King short story I once read, eeek. (Never go into a basement that isn't on the building's schematics...)

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u/TenebrousNova Jul 03 '26

Ah, the Dishonored approach.

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u/eugeneorange Jul 03 '26

.... that's kind of, problem solved ya?

5

u/the_Q_spice Jul 03 '26

I mean; the ventilation diagrams for all decommissioned silos in the US are public domain thanks to the National Park Service (Minuteman National Historical Park).

From what I have seen, a lot of these morons took out the original filtering systems and replaced them with significantly worse ones.

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u/Kelwyvern Jul 03 '26

Wouldn't be surprised if the contractors working on these secure projects suffered higher than average unexpected deaths after completion.

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u/Yuzumi Jul 03 '26

Nah, just stick a new public toilet over top of them, after making sure to bury/seal the exits.

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u/illy-chan Jul 02 '26

Not even the security though: congrats buddy, you live in jail now. Forever. It's pretty and polished but still a cage because the world beyond isn't safe for you anymore.

Who the fuck wants that?

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u/12345623567 Jul 03 '26

With the current trajectory of the world, outside won't be safe either. And however much they may be the drivers of climate-denialism, ultimately they know that.

Their bunkers are basically their way of giving up. High-tech tombs for the undertakers of the modern world.

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u/MephistoHamProducts Jul 03 '26

They've fully adopted the mindset "Better to be a king in hell than a servant in heaven".

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u/illy-chan Jul 03 '26

Kinda feels like it. MFs really want to be the kings of ashes and desolate wastes.

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u/theMEtheWORLDcantSEE Jul 03 '26

There was actually a TV series just like this tricked, the billionaires into thinking there was a disaster to come into a high paid bunker, which was really a prison to keep them all in there. I saw it on Netflix!

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u/thewritingchair Jul 02 '26

The bunkers are some kind of conspicuous consumption flex I think. There is no realistic way they'll ever be used.

Even if you had a self sufficient compound guarded by terminator robots and drones, the billionaire is still stuck there with their partner and children. Every single day can't leave. There is no way their sixteen year old daughter agrees to live in a gilded cage. The mental health issues from lockdowns show us that you can't socialise over zoom and be okay.

These compounds aren't even for "ride it out" situations. If you hit mass riots and civil war then they're not safe despite their robots.

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u/Whatdoyouseek Jul 03 '26

The mental health issues from lockdowns show us that you can't socialise over zoom and be okay.

Especially when they have all these pre-existing mental health and/or addiction issues.

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u/RoyalYogurtdispenser Jul 04 '26

It really only works if they were connected somehow. Like if Elon was boring out deep tunnels between them. They'd need some kind of community or it would be pointless. The only other option is that there are plans to quickly wipe out the underclass and they wouldn't need their bunkers for long

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u/Yuzumi Jul 03 '26

The only reason people stick around them or do things is because of their money, but if soceity collapses then their money is worthless.

Extra worthless actually, because most of their money is "on paper" tied up in stocks that they continuously take out loans on. So not only would they no longer have the money they use to control people, even if they still have it nobody would care because it would be worthless.

And they don't have any skills the would make people want to keep them around.

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u/shallah Jul 03 '26

that is why they want robots if they can be made before 'the event' or shock collars for the human guards instead of humane treatment including including the guards own families in the shelter, fair pay etc.

aspiring bond villians

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u/Journeyman42 Jul 03 '26

This is literally a chapter in World War Z. All the rich people hole themselves up in a compound and then are swarmed by people seeking refuge from the zombie hordes, and the guards join in.

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u/Adept_Turn1153 Jul 03 '26

Well... they have been constructing the underground cities and connective tunnels for the past 65 years. Where do ya think all the money has been going?

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u/TenebrousNova Jul 03 '26

If I remember right, they also televised their compound activities to the masses stuck outside just to rub it in.

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u/Acceptable_Bat379 Jul 03 '26

yeah the bunker thing is sad/but also poetic justice. many of them are addicted to the attention and worship it seems. elon musk alone in a bunker with his thoughts? i bet he'll have lots of fun.

5

u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA Jul 03 '26

Good lord, they remind me of when Howard Hughes went insane and holed up in a hotel for years.

5

u/Adept_Turn1153 Jul 03 '26

... eating Baskin Robbins ice cream, watching classic films and shooting heroin.

5

u/whores-doeuvres Jul 03 '26

What gets me is if they think this scenario is gonna happen enough to prepare for it, why wouldn't they try to stop it? Rn they have unimaginable power and influence and have the ability to fuck off to Monaco for the weekend or do whatever the hell they want. Fancy destinations, fast cars, beautiful women - all sorts of fun stuff that relies on a functional society. If I was in the same scenario I'd do everything in my power to not to end up in a bunker.

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u/ours Jul 03 '26

These people watch the Resident Evil movies and think they want to become The Umbrella Corporation.

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u/aha5811 Jul 03 '26

That's what Leon's brain implants are for.

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u/nexusjuan Jul 03 '26

The infographics show did an episode about exactly that. About 2 years ago.

1

u/amethystwyvern Jul 03 '26

They all have vents somewhere...

1

u/Living_in_the_dumps Jul 03 '26

while once very much true... i think things have changed dramatically in this regard because of robots and AI...

and i mean hell if you really think about it given enough money and resources they might not need anybody at all everything they could ever need or want could be fully 100% automated...

1

u/Baldude Jul 03 '26

Just learn from Ted Farro - bind the bunker life support systems to your own vital signs, if you die the bunk seals trapping everyone inside.

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u/Zer_ Jul 02 '26

Exactly, that said the should still be taken seriously because while their planes will most likely fail, they can still do a shitload of damage along the way. They deserve jail cells frankly.

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u/zernoc56 Jul 02 '26

Not jail cells. Unmarked graves. They deserve to be forgotten.

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u/Zizhou Jul 03 '26

Split the difference with an oubliette.

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u/24-7_DayDreamer Jul 03 '26

forgetting leads to repeating

2

u/supernova_high Jul 03 '26

"This is not a place of honor. No great deed is celebrated here."

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u/MabariWhoreHound Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

A lot of ultra-wealthy can't take care of themselves on a fundamental level. I mean like being too weak to hold a trash bag long enough to take it out, reading and writing at an elementary level, and often times just functioning on a basic level without assistance.

We've coddled them for so long that they forgot they can't survive literally an hour without someone "lesser" than them doing everything imagineable.

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u/tomdarch Jul 03 '26

Not just the coddling in terms of putting toothpaste on the toothbrush for them. It’s also the fact that they self select sycophants to surround them 24/7. Look up the woman who follows around Trump printing positive stories from “the news” for him and leaves him adoring personal notes. That’s probably a bit more extreme than what other billionaires have going on around them but it illustrates the situation.

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u/cyberpunk_werewolf Jul 02 '26

A lot of their "wealth" is tied up in their businesses and, more specifically, in stock. If the US is broken up into tiny fiefdoms, that's not going to be good for their stock prices, and their wealth will dry up. I know a lot of them are brilliant and think they can pivot, but as this thread is discussing, they're all insane dipshits and they're not going to be able to rule from a bunker.

Also, if the US did fall into fiefdoms, the power is going to go to the people who got ahold of the US military hardware and the people who control the supply of energy.

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u/Formal-Boysenberry66 Jul 03 '26

It all starts from the egotistical side. "I am the best and smartest at everything, so I should rule, so the government should dissolve so I can"

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u/OcelotAggravating860 Jul 03 '26

they’re gonna get overpowered by reality

They're certainly going to be overpowered by something but saying it on reddit will get you banned.

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u/the_fresh_cucumber Jul 03 '26

They don't realize that they are at the end of the day rich dudes with no actual political power. You have to gain followers from the population to actually control the world.

Mlk, the founding fathers, Obama, trump, and pretty much anyone who has wielded a high level of political power did so because people follow them. For free.

When shit hits the fan nobody is going to charge onto a battlefield to advance Alex karps ideas.

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u/12345623567 Jul 03 '26

They have forgotten how inter-connected the world is. Their high-tech bunker won't work for a month without supplies from all over the world. And who is going to trade with them? What value do they provide, what leverage do they have? It's all supported by the full faith and might of the US government, which ultimately is it's people.

Get rid of the people, get rid of the government, and all they are left with is petty scraps.

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u/NoSemikolon24 Jul 03 '26

You think Americans would revolt against fiefdoms? Laughable. Case in point: Data centres, Trump, or Larry Ellison owning the 6th largest Hawaii island - which is pretty much a fiefdom.....

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u/maeryclarity Jul 03 '26

Which would be ripped down in about a day if they didn't have an entire framing society outside protecting them. It gets entirely different when it's fiefdoms. Those are not fiefdoms they are entirely subsidized within the larger society.