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Palantir, Alex Karp, and the ‘technofascist’ future

RT News · · 1731 words · By RT Newsroom
Surveillance Capitalism and Government Overreach The Role of Private Tech in National Defense
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.rt.com/news/638879-palantir-karp-technofascist-manifesto/

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.
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Selective Omission 85% confidence
Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

18 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 6
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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“American surveillance tech contractor Palantir released a 22-point manifesto over the weekend, calling for a “new era” of AI-enabled US military supremacy.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results reference a 'manifesto' or '22-point' summary from Palantir regarding AI and US military supremacy. Sources from RT World News and Business Insider cite specific points from this manifesto.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anthropic PBC is an American artificial intelligence (AI) company headquartered in San Francisco. It has developed a range of large language models (LLMs) named Claude and focuses on AI safety. Anthro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Claude is a series of large language models developed by Anthropic and first released in 2023. Since Claude 3, each generation has typically been released in three sizes, from least to most capable: H…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_(language_model)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Palantir Technologies Inc. () is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Ste…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“It outlines Palantir’s positions on the role of technology and military power in the 21st century, stating: “Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation;” “hard power in this century will be built on software;” “national service should be a universal duty,” “the postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone.””
CORROBORATED
The specific quotes regarding Silicon Valley's obligation, hard power relying on software, and the critique of postwar neutering are directly quoted or paraphrased across multiple independent web search results referencing the manifesto.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alexander Caedmon Karp (born October 2, 1967) is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the software firm Palantir Technologies. Karp earn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Karp
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025. Founders Fund was the first i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Palantir Technologies Inc. () is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Ste…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Palantir – named after the obsidian seeing-stones from Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ through which the dark lord Sauron keeps watch on his underlings – is a software firm primarily serving the defense and intelligence sectors.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim accurately states Palantir's function (data integration for government/military) and its naming origin. While the general function is corroborated by multiple sources, the specific detail linking the name to Tolkien's 'seeing-stones' is not directly confirmed by the provided evidence, making it a single-source claim based on general knowledge context.
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web search NEUTRAL — Palantir Technologies Inc. (/ ˈpælənˌtiːr /) [3] is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms enabling government agencies, militaries, and corporation…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
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web search NEUTRAL — Our software powers real-time, decisions in critical government and commercial enterprises in the West, from the factory floors to the front lines. Palantirians deliver mission-critical outcomes for t…
https://www.palantir.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 11, 2025 · What Does Palantir Actually Do? Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employe…
https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/
verified
“The company was established in 2003 by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale (who worked for Thiel’s Clarium Capital), Stephen Cohen (who interned at Clarium) former Sigmund Freud Research Institute researcher Alex Karp, and Nathan Gettings, a PayPal engineer.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries for Palantir explicitly list the co-founders and the founding year (2003), matching the claim's details.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Joseph Lonsdale (born 1982 or 1983) is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He co-founded companies including Palantir Technologies, Addepar, and OpenGov, and co-founded and works as the m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lonsdale
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Palantir Technologies Inc. () is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Ste…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Peter Andreas Thiel ( ; born 11 October 1967) is a German and American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative political activist. A co-founder of PayPal (1998), Palantir Technologies (2003…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Thiel’s idea was nurtured by the CIA, which invested $2 million in the company in 2005 via its in-house venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that the CIA nurtured the idea and invested $2 million in 2005 via In-Q-Tel.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025. Founders Fund was the first i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an independent American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Tysons, Virginia. It invests in companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Palantir Technologies Inc. () is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Ste…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Palantir is currently valued at around $352 billion, a valuation that represents roughly 80 times the company’s annual revenue.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results provide specific, high-value figures for Palantir's market capitalization (e.g., $352.99 billion, $351.82 Billion USD) and relate them to revenue multiples (e.g., 80 times trailing sales).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Claude is a series of large language models developed by Anthropic and first released in 2023. Since Claude 3, each generation has typically been released in three sizes, from least to most capable: H…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_(language_model)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025. Founders Fund was the first i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Project Maven (officially Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team) is a United States Department of Defense initiative launched in 2017 to accelerate the adoption of machine learning and data integr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Maven
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Palantir’s flagship product is an operating system called ‘Gotham’.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources identify 'Gotham' as a primary or flagship operating system/platform for Palantir, used for intelligence and mission operations.
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web search NEUTRAL — Palantir's customer base includes federal agencies, state and local governments, international organizations, and also private companies. [11] The company has four main operating systems: Palantir Got…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
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web search NEUTRAL — Palantir Gotham is a commercially-available, AI-ready operating system that improves and accelerates decisions for operators across roles and all domains. From the back of a humvee to the hull of a su…
https://www.palantir.com/platforms/
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web search NEUTRAL — Palantir Gotham Gotham is Palantir's flagship platform for intelligence and mission operations. It can transform the way defence and intelligence organisations integrate, manage, secure and analyse th…
https://www.amcham.it/upload/documenti/8/85/854/8548.pdf
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“Gotham and MOSAIC – another Palantir target identification program that pulls digital data including surveillance footage and IP addresses from a target area – use AI to label the most effective targets for military strikes.”
CORROBORATED
The claim accurately describes the function of both Gotham and MOSAIC—using AI on digital data (surveillance footage, IP addresses) to identify military targets—as reported by multiple web sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — Palantir Gotham is an intelligence tool used by militaries and counter-terrorism analysts, including the United States Intelligence Community (USIC) and United States Department of Defense. Multiple p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir
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web search NEUTRAL — Gotham and MOSAIC – another Palantir target identification program that pulls digital data including surveillance footage and IP addresses from a target area – use AI to label the most effective targe…
https://rtrunews.com/news/638879-palantir-karp-technofascist…
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web search NEUTRAL — How Palantir’s Technology Works. To label Palantir’s software as a data analytics dashboard would be an oversimplification. Palantir’s software uses AI to integrate numerous databases in various progr…
https://builtin.com/articles/what-is-palantir
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“The US admits that it has used these programs to select targets during its ongoing war on Iran, but insists that humans make the final decision to fire.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered regarding the US admitting to using these specific programs for target selection during a war on Iran, nor is there evidence confirming the stated human oversight protocol.
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“The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, uses Gotham to collect data on civilians – including names, addresses, social media activity, personal relationships, and surveillance photographs – in order to trace their connections to known criminals and predict the likelihood that they will go on to commit crimes.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered regarding the Los Angeles Police Department using Gotham to collect and predict crimes based on the specific data types listed (social media, personal relationships, etc.).
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“In the US, Palantir’s client list includes the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CIA, FBI, NSA, US Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Special Operations Command, as well as dozens or even hundreds of police departments and other law enforcement agencies.”
PENDING
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“Abroad, Palantir’s technology is used by the British Ministry of Defense, Israel Defense Forces, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as police departments and government agencies in France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK.”
PENDING
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“Palantir’s mission, according to CEO Alex Karp on an earnings call last year, is “to scare enemies, and on occasion, kill them.””
PENDING
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“Karp has defended the IDF’s use of Palantir software to plan strikes in Gaza, and called for the US to prepare for a three-front war against China, Russia, and Iran.”
PENDING
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“The manifesto is adapted from Karp’s 2025 book, ‘The Technological Republic’.”
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“Karp has portrayed himself throughout the years as a “socialist” and a “neo-Marxist,” and has consistently voted Democrat, while praising some of Trump’s policies.”
PENDING
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“Thiel, by contrast, is a much more partisan figure. An avowed conservative, he has donated to libertarian and Republican causes, and bankrolled Vice President J.D. Vance’s 2018 senatorial campaign.”
PENDING
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“Thiel funded wrestler Hulk Hogan’s 2015 lawsuit that bankrupted Gawker, almost a decade after the news blog outed him as gay.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.