Palantir: The Shadow Tech Giant Redefining Power, Privacy, and America’s Future
Written by Massa Medi
Criticizing your former employer is a move that’s often frowned upon. But what happens when that employer not only shapes your paycheck, but also wields vast, lethal technologies and surveillance tools used on battlefields and within cities alike? That’s a very different — and far more unsettling — situation.
In 2025, government surveillance and the erosion of personal privacy have become part of the digital background noise. The prevailing assumption: someone somewhere is always watching us, and our private data lives in places we can’t even imagine. Meanwhile, taxpayers have grown accustomed to the military funneling billions to a handful of monolithic defense contractors. Enter Palantir — a tech juggernaut with its sights set on rewriting both rules: not only dominating the military contracting space but also becoming the grand gatekeeper of data worldwide.
“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world. And when it’s necessary, to scare enemies and, on occasion, kill them.”
The stock market seems to approve. Palantir shares leapt 22% after a surge in government demand for its AI-driven software. This is a company that promises to revolutionize government operations. From its home base in Denver, Palantir has secured contracts with the Department of Defense, FBI, local police departments, the IRS — even fast food giant, Wendy’s. Their pitch? Gather all the disparate information those organizations collect, synthesize even more, and then use algorithms to draw powerful, actionable conclusions.
But what’s really happening under the hood? Let’s peel back the layers. This journey weaves through the experience of a former Palantir employee, decades of critical research, and the very words of CEO Alex Karp — to reveal how Palantir’s sales pitch is rooted in capitalizing on fear, disruption, and the promise of technological dominance.
The Genesis of Palantir: Born in the Age of Fear
Fear sells, and few understood this better than the creators of Palantir. In the wake of 9/11, the United States raced to expand both domestic and foreign surveillance. The defense sector reaped the rewards. Around the same time, the Silicon Valley tech boom minted fortunes overnight, including those behind PayPal, like Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman (the LinkedIn visionary), and Peter Thiel.
After PayPal’s acquisition, Thiel had both the capital and the curiosity to apply fraud detection concepts to the world at large. He tapped his Stanford Law roommate — Alex Karp, a doctor not of computer science, but of neoclassical social theory — to help realize this vision. They named their new enterprise Palantir, after the palantíri from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: crystal balls that could peer across distances and even through time — “meant to be used for good, but incredibly dangerous if wielded with the wrong intentions.”
In Tolkien’s legendarium, these stones granted their users tremendous power and influence. In our world, Palantir’s software — powered now by artificial intelligence — provides governments and corporations with similarly far-reaching capabilities.
What Does Palantir Actually Do?
Palantir’s technology enables clients to gather and analyze massive pools of data — seeking “predicates” or patterns that might indicate risks, threats, or opportunities. As CEO Karp once put it: “We would look at you, and say: what things in your life add up to a risk?” In plain language, they make it easier for their customers to draw sweeping, actionable conclusions from oceans of raw data — often with minimal human intervention, thanks to AI.
By 2013, just ten years into its journey, Palantir was already serving the FBI, CIA, NSA, Marine Corps, Air Force Special Operations, and more — often shrouded in secrecy. When pressed on whether Palantir’s tools aided in tracking Osama bin Laden, employees coyly reference “a 2/3 chance” of being involved, depending on the country.
The Internal Mechanics: A Mission Driven by Militarism
Palantir’s internal culture revolves around the conviction that they’re solving “the world’s hardest problems” — upholding Western institutions, security, and, above all, dominance. As Karp says, “If you do not feel comfortable supporting the legitimate efforts of America and its allies in the context of war, don’t join Palantir.” The rhetoric is unapologetically martial.
The language they use in private is even more direct. Employees talk about building systems for “the kill chain,” a military term describing the sequence of steps leading from identifying to neutralizing (or killing) a target — Palantir’s tech makes this process faster, more efficient, and, yes, more lethal. The lawyers may wordsmith a “tech for the amelioration of unwanted outcomes,” but inside the company, the term “kill chain” is commonly used.
The “kill chain” is not uniquely Palantir’s, but by embedding their AI-driven tools, they’ve deeply integrated themselves into the process. As one former employee noted, the power to shape how data is collected, interpreted, and acted upon — from the battlefield to boardroom — is almost god-like, and can cause moral whiplash for those on the inside. For some, like ex-employee Juan, it led to soul-searching and eventual whistleblowing.
Palantir’s Reach: From Gaza to Government Contracts
Juan’s break with Palantir was catalyzed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza after October 7. While Palantir’s exact contracts with the Israeli Defense Forces remain intentionally opaque, mounting evidence strongly suggests their AI was used to select targets in Gaza. For Palantir, the controversy isn’t a bug — it’s a feature. CEO Karp relishes the provocations; as he brags, the company is “comfortable being unpopular" and will gladly take projects that other tech giants shun for political reasons.
And it’s not just about war. Palantir’s reach now extends to health insurance companies (deploying AI to manage — or deny — claims), to for-profit hospital chains, to major investment banks, even to Wendy’s supply chain logistics. In 2024, their revenue approached $2.9 billion, with 55% derived from government contracts, mostly with U.S. agencies.
The Pitch to Power: Becoming the Operating System of Government
Palantir has made its ambitions clear: it wants to be the software backbone — the operating system — of the entire U.S. government. In a 2021 presentation, CTO Shyam Sankar declared the company’s mission as becoming “the US government’s central operating system,” extending their reach across defense, healthcare, and civilian agencies. Their sales pitch even reaches back into history, referencing the infamous “Last Supper” of 1993 — a secret meeting widely seen as the birth of the modern military-industrial complex. Palantir positions itself as the revolutionary force to upend the financialized, dividend-obsessed defense sector.
This rhetoric works. In 2024, the Defense Innovation Board explicitly cited Palantir’s strategy in recommending greater investments in emerging technologies (i.e., Palantir’s core business). Their influence has grown so profound that the company was recently added to the S&P 100, replacing Ford Motors, a testament to their ascendancy.
The Politicization of Data Power
Palantir’s elite connections don’t stop at contracts. The company is deeply tied to the corridors of Washington, especially during Republican administrations. Peter Thiel, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, invested heavily in both the company and GOP campaigns. Former Palantir employees now occupy positions across government, from technology offices to strategic advisory roles. Palantir is uniquely positioned to fulfill the Trump administration’s aim of unifying and “streamlining” government databases.
The implications are profound. For example, Palantir currently has contracts with the IRS, using their technology to sift through vast amounts of taxpayer data — flagging the easiest audits and possibly designing the next generation of pervasive tax oversight. Wired recently reported that Palantir is poised to provide unified software creating a “mega API” for the IRS, potentially giving select users access to — and power over — all taxpayer information in one place.
Palantir is also embedded within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), landing contracts worth nearly $100 million to help manage core administrative data — including Medicare and Medicaid records and, by extension, sensitive health information for millions of Americans.
Governance by Algorithm, Not Democracy
What does it mean for a single tech contractor to control such a vast reservoir of private data, backed by AI decision-making? As algorithms increasingly govern daily realities, the human element recedes. Decisions formerly shaped by public scrutiny or democratic oversight become opaque, automated, and — perhaps most concerningly — aligned with the interests of those wielding the code rather than those being governed by it.
This is not wild speculation. Palantir’s own leadership are transparent about these goals. Co-founder Peter Thiel once remarked, at a libertarian conference:
“We could never win an election on certain issues because we were always a small minority. But maybe you could actually unilaterally change the world…through technological means. Technology is an incredible alternative to politics.”
Meanwhile, Alex Karp focuses on the details of data use and legality, arguing that oversight is key — but always with Palantir firmly in the oversight role.
“The central question of civil liberties isn’t if the government has data…but how it is used. Is it lawful? Is it being migrated into unauthorized places? If data is managed like this, you have the ultimate Silicon Valley solution.”
In short: one founder wants to shape the world through disruptive technology; the other demands their company supervise how government data is handled. Meanwhile, a unique share structure ensures neither can lose control: with “Class F” shares granting them nearly half of all Palantir voting power, even if they own just 6% of the stock.
The Stakes: Who Governs the Future?
This exposé began from a place of fear — fear of repercussions, pushback, or worse. But as the realities of Palantir’s sweeping ambitions become clear, the necessity of speaking out becomes obvious. Replacing a broken system with an even more unaccountable one, managed by the tech world’s most aggressive disruptors, is not the answer. The ever-present sense of being watched is itself an act of intimidation — a force that breeds public silence, not engagement.
But, as the investigation concludes, the American public is more resilient and powerful than even Silicon Valley’s most influential titans. This is our country, and this is our future.
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