The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State

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In the age of big data, no company embodies its promise and its perils more than Palantir. This software firm sells some of the most powerful and dangerous technology in the world, ingesting huge quantities of data and spotting patterns, trends, and connections that would likely elude most people. Apart from Facebook, youd be hard-pressed to find another tech company thats making as big of a splash or fraught with more potential pitfalls.

Founded in 2003 to help the US government in the war on terror, Palantir now has more than thirty federal agencies as clients. From climate change and terrorism to poverty to immigration, money laundering, and the future of warfare, Palantir is at the nexus of the most critical issues of the 21st century. At its helm is cofounder and CEO Alex Karp, an atypical tech boss with a law degree from Stanford and a doctorate in social theory from Germanys Goethe University, yet no background in either computer science or business. Now, in The Philosopher in the Valley, journalist Michael Steinberger delves deeply into Karp and the company hes leading, highlighting the risks to privacy and civil liberties that come with big data. Can we get the good without the bad and if not, what are the trade-offs

Karps unique political and philosophical views put him and the company at odds with fellow cofounder Peter Thiel, a big supporter of Donald Trump in Silicon Valley. The technology they created has the potential to shape the global power dynamic and the way individuals interact with governments. Urgent and important, this illuminating work shows us what this future might look like.

Author Bio

Michael Steinberger is a longtime journalist who writes primarily for The New York Times Magazine. He has written cover stories for the magazine about Joe Biden, George Soros, and Roger Federer. Before becoming a journalist, Steinberger spent several years working on Wall Street. He is the author of Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France and The Wine Savant: A Guide to the New Wine Culture. Follow him on X at @WineDiarist.