‘Technofascism’: Critics accuse Palantir of pushing AI war doctrine

A book coauthored by a cofounder of Palantir, a leading defence and intelligence software firm in the United States, has prompted outcry from detractors who say it lays out a “manifesto” for the weaponisation of artificial intelligence by the US and its allies.

Palantir, which has multibillion-dollar contracts with multiple US government agencies, including the US Army, and partnerships with the Israeli military, recently summarised the key arguments of The Technological Republic – written by the company’s chief executive, Alexander Karp, and Nicholas W Zamiska, the head of its corporate affairs – in a post on X.

The book argues that leading US tech firms have a “moral debt” to the United States, which needs “hard power” fuelled by cutting-edge software to maintain global dominance.

“If a US Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software,” Palantir wrote in the summary of the book.

It also contends that future deterrence will be based on AI, not nuclear power, and that US adversaries will not hesitate to build AI weapons. “The question is not whether AI weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose,” the company said in its summary.

The framing drew sharp criticism from academics and commentators.

Mark Coeckelbergh, a Belgian philosopher of technology who teaches at the University of Vienna, described the message as an “example of technofascism”.

Greek economist and former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Palantir had effectively signalled a willingness “to add to nuclear Armageddon the AI-driven threat to humanity’s existence”.

“AI-powered killer robots are coming,” wrote Varoufakis on X.

‘Destructive clash-of-civilisations crusade’

Palantir’s summary of the book also argues the US and its Western partners should resist “a vacant and hollow pluralism”, claiming “some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional”.

Entrepreneur and geopolitical commentator Arnaud Bertrand said the message reveals a dangerous “ideological agenda”.

“They’re effectively saying ‘our tools aren’t meant to serve your foreign policy. They’re meant to enforce ours,” said Bertrand in a post on X.

Bertrand also pointed to the book’s argument that “the postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone”, an allusion to the two states’ historically restrained defence postures resulting from the second world war.

He said Palantir’s motivation to “overturn the security architecture of two continents” is both commercial and ideological.

“A remilitarised Germany and Japan are massive new defense-software markets,” said Bertrand. “But the more troubling answer is that [it] fits into the ideological project the rest of the manifesto lays out – a civilisational contest requires a consolidated Western bloc, and pacifist members are a liability in such a contest.”