It's not often a thousand-word social media post from a US tech firm goes viral. But the post from Palantir - a 22-point manifesto of sorts - currently has over 30 million views on X. It is the work of the controversial company's co-founder and chief executive, who has criticised the belief that all cultures are equal and called for universal national service.
Alex Karp also called the disarmament of Germany and Japan after World War Two an 'overcorrection', backed AI weapons, and condemned 'ruthless exposure' of the private lives of public figures. Karp's views matter - his company's growing roster of UK government contracts includes the NHS, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Financial Conduct Authority, and 11 police forces. Not to mention its multimillion dollar deals with the US and other powerful governments.
But as the firm increasingly embeds itself in public bodies, the opinions and influence of its leaders leave some fearful. 'Every alarm bell for democracy must ring,' Prof Shannon Vallor, chair of ethics of data and AI at Edinburgh University, told the BBC.
Palantir insiders compare what they do to 'plumbing' - joining together scattered stores of information. They say their products allow large, often incompatible sets of data to be analysed and searched easily, including through the use of commercial AI systems. To this end, the firm won a £300m contract to create a data platform for the NHS - a role that has been opposed by the British Medical Association (BMA) and provokes continuing intense debate.
In the last few days, Palantir's UK boss Louis Mosley turned to X to attack a critical cover story in the BMA's British Medical Journal. But consultant Tom Bartlett, who previously led the NHS team responsible for delivering the Federated Data Platform - built on Palantir software - told the BBC Palantir was 'uniquely suited to the messy NHS data problems that have been accumulating over the last 25 years'.
The $400bn (£297bn) firm is also a major military contractor. Its AI-enabled 'war-fighting' technology is used by NATO, Ukraine, and the US, including in its conflict with Iran. In the UK, the MoD has signed a similarly controversial three-year contract worth £240m for tech that it said would support the so-called 'kill-chain', fusing together data provided to produce faster options for attacking an enemy target.
Karp, who has a doctorate in social theory, is one of a number of wealthy tech leaders - also including Elon Musk - to promote political and ideological theories. His views and the company's role in government contracts raise critical questions about accountability and the ethical implications of private entities influencing public policy.
Alex Karp also called the disarmament of Germany and Japan after World War Two an 'overcorrection', backed AI weapons, and condemned 'ruthless exposure' of the private lives of public figures. Karp's views matter - his company's growing roster of UK government contracts includes the NHS, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Financial Conduct Authority, and 11 police forces. Not to mention its multimillion dollar deals with the US and other powerful governments.
But as the firm increasingly embeds itself in public bodies, the opinions and influence of its leaders leave some fearful. 'Every alarm bell for democracy must ring,' Prof Shannon Vallor, chair of ethics of data and AI at Edinburgh University, told the BBC.
Palantir insiders compare what they do to 'plumbing' - joining together scattered stores of information. They say their products allow large, often incompatible sets of data to be analysed and searched easily, including through the use of commercial AI systems. To this end, the firm won a £300m contract to create a data platform for the NHS - a role that has been opposed by the British Medical Association (BMA) and provokes continuing intense debate.
In the last few days, Palantir's UK boss Louis Mosley turned to X to attack a critical cover story in the BMA's British Medical Journal. But consultant Tom Bartlett, who previously led the NHS team responsible for delivering the Federated Data Platform - built on Palantir software - told the BBC Palantir was 'uniquely suited to the messy NHS data problems that have been accumulating over the last 25 years'.
The $400bn (£297bn) firm is also a major military contractor. Its AI-enabled 'war-fighting' technology is used by NATO, Ukraine, and the US, including in its conflict with Iran. In the UK, the MoD has signed a similarly controversial three-year contract worth £240m for tech that it said would support the so-called 'kill-chain', fusing together data provided to produce faster options for attacking an enemy target.
Karp, who has a doctorate in social theory, is one of a number of wealthy tech leaders - also including Elon Musk - to promote political and ideological theories. His views and the company's role in government contracts raise critical questions about accountability and the ethical implications of private entities influencing public policy.
