back to article Palantir designed to 'power the West to its obvious innate superiority,' says CEO

Palantir CEO Alex Karp says one of his aims when building the controversial spy‑tech company was to "power the West to its obvious innate superiority." Speaking to investment analysts following Q4 results, Karp reckoned the founders and early employees had taken a "long bet over decades" in Palantir's positioning. He said the …

  1. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

    Something something "master race", something something, Peter Thiel is a Nazi...

    I seriously hope our government is currently disentangling his spyware from our public services, but since Starmer appears to have been born without a spine, I don't hold out much hope.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The UK is loudly and proudly attempting to integrate as much as is feasible of Palantir's technology into the public sector, because 'AI'. Starmer et al, like all politicians of any colour, doesn't understand or care how any of this works, and is simply drooling over perceived 'efficiencies' promised by the technocrats. The general public don't know anything about Palantir and assume it's a fertilizer. I suppose in a way it sort of is manure.

      Oh well. T'was ever thus.

    2. Nightkiller

      Shouldn't you be claiming a modified Godwin's law for this post?

      1. Jason Hindle Silver badge

        I think Godwin's law is cited mostly by closet Nazis these days.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Holmes

        To be honest, Peter Theil set that one up with his goose-stepping and 'obvious innate superiority' comment. Elongated Muskrat just tapped it in.

        1. SundogUK Silver badge

          'goose-stepping' was actually in reference to the Soviets...

      3. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

        I'm going to direct you to the Wikipedia article on Godwin's law, specifically the bit where it quotes Godwin:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

        I urge people to develop enough perspective to do it thoughtfully. If you think the comparison is valid, and you've given it some thought, do it. All I ask you to do is think about the human beings capable of acting very badly. We have to keep the magnitude of those events in mind, and not be glib. Our society needs to be more humane, more civilized and to grow up.

        1. vtcodger Silver badge

          Grow up? And where, exactly, are the profits to be found in that?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      >but since Starmer appears to have been born without a spine,

      Oh what hyprocrites you are.

      Why just 5 minutes ago you were defending diversity hires, and berating the glorious orange sun-god for suggesting that raw talent (and a little dab of shit on the tip of one's nose) might be a better basis for e.g. selecting a prime minister, than unfortunate birth defects.

    4. TheMeerkat Silver badge

      It is woke who are the real fascists and who are bringing the downfall of the West.

      1. LionelB Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Woke (African-American slang, 1970s): aware to social injustice.

        Woke (Alt-right buzzword, 2000s): these people don't subscribe to my worldview wibble wibble wibble.

        1. Altrux

          Woke (2020s) - victimhood appropriation, going way too far beyond the core and valid issue of social injustice.

          1. LionelB Silver badge

            Interesting. What, in your opinion, are (and aren't) those "core and valid issue of social injustice"?

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            ‘But “woke” doesn’t mean “victimhood appropriation”, Alice objected.

            “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

            1. LionelB Silver badge

              To be fair, language is not static, and the meanings of words change over time (cf. "gay", "sick", ...). Often they then coexist with their older meanings (cf. "gay", "sick", ...). The intended meaning is generally clear from the context, which includes the user of the word.

              "Woke" is an interesting one: the problem with those who use it in the more recent pejorative sense of "perceiving social injustice where there is none" either genuinely do not care about social injustice beyond their own demographic, and/or lack the empathy to perceive social injustice as it pertains to others. The great irony is that those same people are quite capable of "wokeness" under their own interpretation (e.g., crying victimhood for privileged white males).

      2. Wang Cores

        maybe you should put us in camps and shoot us in the streets. a final solution, eh?

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          The current Western weaponed and financed Israeli solution for Gaza and Palestinians

          maybe you should put us in camps and shoot us in the streets. a final solution, eh? ..... Wang Cores

          Sounds like a Holocaust v2.0 in the making to remember to never forget ...... and learn lessons from ....... yet again.

          And then folk wonder why such shenanigans has one despised and surrounded by all manner of deadly enemies and phantom invisible foe.

  2. BartyFartsLast Silver badge

    Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

    Jesus that's scary, if I was working there I'd be walking out and writing my resignation letter immediately rather than being involved with that sort of corporate Nazi ideology.

    1. Ace2 Silver badge

      Re: Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

      If you had any moral scruples at all, you wouldn’t take a job there in the first place.

      1. Andy 73 Silver badge

        Re: Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

        Pleased to say I was offered an interview with them something like ten years ago. Took one look at the bullshit they were demanding before I even spoke to a human and decided that I didn't want to be anywhere near them. Nothing I've heard or seen about them since has changed that view.

        1. Andy 73 Silver badge

          Re: Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

          I'm fascinated by the thumbs down. Are people really upset that someone thinks they're not a good match for a company? Or are you defending the honour of Palantir?

          If you are, take a good look at yourself. These guys are not the owners of some special secret sauce, they're a consultancy that - in common with many in this corner of the industry - rely heavily on mythologising their abilities to sell very big and expensive solutions to large corporate and government bodies. This shouldn't be news, or particularly upsetting to observe, unless you've got a deeply fragile ego.

          Now, you could be offended if you work there and I suggest that Palantir is home to a lot of arrogant, self-aggrandising grifters with poor social skills and a sense of entitlement you could power a steam-train with, or that the justifications that they're somehow saviours of the free world are the sort of nonsensical bullshit you can only come up with when you've earned an unreasonably large amount and need something to give your life meaning in the absence of religion or really hard drugs.

          But honestly, I don't think anyone in Palantir would care in the slightest what some nobody on the internet thinks about them and would probably agree that yes, I'm not a good match for the company.

          1. cookiecutter

            Re: Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

            They charged the NHS £1 for Covid data & then refused to let NHS data analysts look at their work. After getting that £1 contract someone senior in NHS England decided that the new £450 million contract could legally be an extension of that....just utter wankers whose white supremacist nazi bullshit shouldn't be near the UK public sector

      2. BartyFartsLast Silver badge

        Re: Whatever you say Alex, you're the master race

        Which is why I stipulated "if I worked there", because, along with loan companies, solicitors and a few others, I wouldn't work there.

  3. Ace2 Silver badge

    Ah yes, preventing goose-stepping in the EU, and bringing it back in swinging style in the good ‘ole USA.

    Elon walks like a fucking duck.

    1. Mentat74
      Joke

      Yeah... but he is a quack....

    2. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Coat

      I didn't know ducks walked when they er ...

  4. Omnipresent Silver badge

    Police states

    There are facial recognition spy cameras going up on every street corner in every major city in America, and I'm not kidding about that. America is now a fascist police state by definition, and it's terrifying.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Police states

      Excuse me, we do it way better in Blighty, amateurs.

      1. Omnipresent Silver badge

        Re: Police states

        I am in fear. The militia drones will be next. Then the thought police. I am seriously thinking of moving to mexico.

        Transplanting eyeballs is about to become very profitable.

        It's a dystopian nightmare.

      2. Vometia has insomnia. Again.

        Re: Police states

        Unless one of the Great Unwashed needs it and will be told it was either "taped over" or given a copy that appears to have come from an original VHS recorder on tape which has been in constant use for 43 years and never had the tracking adjusted; and from a black and white (or rather murky and slightly lighter murky) camera that's never had the lens cleaned.

        1. Omnipresent Silver badge

          Re: Police states

          They are on individual stands, and are solar powered, with the panel on top of the pole. They are black, and small, and light. They can be moved around. They just sprung up in a matter of a week. One or two on every major intersection, and also over looking the school parking lots, databasing our children.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Police states

            No, that is the ANPR network.

            1. Omnipresent Silver badge

              Re: Police states

              That was my first thought, honestly, and I told other people who asked me about it, that was what it was. My town is heavily invested in license plate reading. You cannot go to the hospital without it reading your license plate and sending the authorities to pick you up. I can totally believe it is a license plate reader but, there are A LOT of them. They connect you to the database warehouse, and instantly id you. I don't have a problem because I don't have any record but, I do not trust these people. I am scared to leave the house. All trust has been lost. They are data basing me and others without any consent. They are storing that information. They can use it any way they want without any consequences at all. They are profiling us. Give me one reason to trust these people with any kind of information at all?

              To even get a job you have to open yourself up to every kind of criminal felonious act imaginable. They have proven they will do it. It's been proven that any kind of criminal, terroristic act can and will be done. Nobody can stop the acceleration of tyranny. We are just willy nilly handing ourselves over without a second thought, and when it's sent into the either.... anything is possible. Nobody knows who is using this information or how. and here's another thing. I got blasted by head hunters, and I'm talking a dozen a day, asking for armed capitol police at the same time.

              The drones are next, run by AI. Then come the thought police. You are already being profiled.

              Here's another problem. These data warehouses are outside the jurisdiction of local law enforcement. It's illegal to begin with. You can't just start a company and start blasting people with tickets and pay or else demands, and sending people to jail from a totally different state. That's ridiculous. Who runs these companies? What kind of payments are they recieving? From who? We don't know.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Police states

            "databasing our children"

            For the love of pasta stop "verbing" every fecking noun!

  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Sombody stop the earth

    I want to get off and go somewhere sane. Any alien ship will do.

    1. IGotOut Silver badge

      Re: Sombody stop the earth

      Aliens passed back in the 50s and went "Fuck that" and carried on.

  6. Wang Cores

    Deus Ex wasn't a fuckin' manual. Jesus Christ.

    1. Omnipresent Silver badge

      I love that game (needs to be continued please), but that is very much what it feels like rn.

  7. Ken Hagan Gold badge

    Also scary...

    "The company beat its Q4 estimates and saw its share price climb 18 percent in late trading following the financial update."

    So the management come out as raging loons and the investors all go "Yay!".

    1. IGotOut Silver badge

      Re: Also scary...

      Welcome to the growth at all costs rot economy.

  8. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Devil

    They're not bothering to hide it now

    The road to Hell on Earth is paved with corporate America.

    1. ascii bandit

      Re: They're not bothering to hide it now

      Surely you mean by corporate America

      Anything to turn a profit

  9. captain veg Silver badge

    obvious, innate superiority...

    ... clearly doesn't need powering to anything at all.

    -A.

  10. IGotOut Silver badge

    In the good old days you were told

    "That you shouldn't wish I'll on anyone".

    Sorry but I hope these scumbags all die a slow and lingering death in fucking agony. The sooner the better. Then we can line up to shit on their graves.

  11. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
    Unhappy

    On this day...

    According to Wikipedia, the Yalta conference kicked off to discuss what the shattered world left behind by the last "master race" would look like. While mopping up continued.

    At this rate US war movies showing them fighting Nazis will be next on the ban list. something something fighting the wrong enemy?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: On this day...

      I keep coming back because I need to be reassured I'm not crazy. This shit is whacko.

  12. The Central Scrutinizer Silver badge

    "That company would generate so much value that we would get a small percentage of that, and we would end up as a massive, significant, and much more importantly, impactful company that could power the West to its obvious innate superiority."

    Racist much? I stopped reading there before I vomited.

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      Yes, very racist. But these days rather than feeling cowed, the likes of China will be saying "Challenge accepted".

      And with how Trump is busy wrecking America, it might not be a particularly hard challenge...

  13. Robert 22

    Ironically, the US seems to have gone in whole hog on conspiracy theories and disinformation. Moreover there are lots of people willing to provide that for free.

  14. Bebu sa Ware
    Facepalm

    Mordor talk

    recalling these seeing stone were ultimately controlled by Sauron.

    "The West" which is what exactly?

    "innate" usually mean inborn or from birth which implies the preceding is a biological (?) entity capable of reproduction

    "obvious" to whom?

    "superiority" in what way superior and in comparison with who or what?

    I would have thought anything superior about a vaguely defined West would be its not giving the least credence to this dangerous nonsense.

    These days looks like the one ring is on Saruman's finger. :(

    1. HuBo Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Mordor talk

      Yup! But on the side of feeling good, a tiny bit of hope from the youth with Ben Tscheschlok's Honors Thesis entitled: "Tech Bro Messiahs: How Tech Billionaires are Spearheading Late-Stage Reactionary" (published online, and with an hour-long interview on The Kennel). He summarily described Mr. Thiel Palantir thus:

      "Saruman Falls Deeper into Madness and Becomes a Tech Bro"!

      Thumbs up from me!

  15. TheMeerkat Silver badge

    This site is not about IT any more.

    It became a political anti-Trump website.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      we wont miss you....

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Sir, this is a non-Nazi establishment.

    3. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

      Show me on the doll where the bad man grabbed you.

      For reference, this is an article about Palantir, which is run by a whole different set of Nazis to the US government. Nobody mentioned Trump until you stepped in with your goose-legs there.

    4. Al fazed
      Facepalm

      Maybe you lost the plot

      the article is about Palantir and Peter thingy and is proposing various observations regarding his stated beliefs and those of his mates aboard that particular socio political group..........

      You can't keep politics out of IT otherwise it would be nothing less than marketing spew.....

      ALF

    5. heyrick Silver badge
      Unhappy

      "It became a political anti-Trump website."

      Funny. I was starting to think that after sixteen years I should maybe find someplace else for my snarky IT news, given that clearly the crazies are hanging out around these parts nowadays...

  16. Potemkine! Silver badge
    Big Brother

    Heil Palantir! Heil Tesla!

    Welcome to the New Order! And now let's conquer the World. Canada, Greenland, Panama, Gaza... who's next?

    1. willyslick

      Re: Heil Palantir! Heil Tesla!

      These loud shouts about taking over this or that land will come to nothing - are you not familiar with Rumps MO by now? These grand pronouncements are merely decoy - the real damaging stuff is going on while you are distracted by this stuff which is never going to happen - the louder it is, the more crime is happening in the shadows.

      1. Al fazed
        Thumb Up

        Re: Heil Palantir! Heil Tesla!

        Apparently, it is no longer a crime, if your name is Trump, et al

        ALF

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  17. cookiecutter

    Obviously

    3 or Palantir employees in the comments here down voting like crazy...I hope those are company mice you're using clicking that much..

    Utterly twatty company from top to bottom

  18. xyz Silver badge

    Karp obviously talking Krap

    Can you just imagine MAGAman in his swamp at the mo...

    Shoot, what's AI?

    Shoot, what's Gaza?

    Shoot, what's tarrifs?

    Shoot, gotta shoot sumint....

    Meanwhile the head mop head and his tech Bros have gone full batshit crazy.

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