Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp explain how ICE uses the company's services

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp discuss the threat of a surveillance state

Palantir has been criticized for providing the US government with software tools that give government agencies access to data about citizens and could be used for surveillance. Karp often counters those claims by asserting that empowering the work of the American government is absolutely essential for maintaining Western democratic leadership and that private surveillance is a larger threat than government surveillance.

Learn about Palantir CEO Alex Karp's background—including his history of social activism

Palantir has been criticized for its close proximity to conservative politics, including the company's partnership with ICE, cofounder Peter Thiel's long track record of large donations to Donald Trump's campaigns, and the company's support for Israel. But its leader, Alex Karp, is a self-proclaimed progressive with a PhD in social theory. For many, Karp's background and leadership are a paradox for Palantir.

Watch a rare early interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp

Prior to Palantir's public listing in 2020, CEO Alex Karp did not give many interviews. In a rare interview from 2009, Karp discussed the dominance of American technology, his academic background, and the founding idea of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as key players in aiding the fight against terrorism.

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp's outlook for how AI will change the economy

Palantir was an early leader in developing and implementing AI into its technology. When asked about the potential risks of AI (like the threat many say it poses to so-called "knowledge workers"), Karp has said that specialized knowledge or skills will inevitably become more valuable.

Read Palantir CEO Alex Karp's most recent shareholder letter

Alex Karp's latest shareholder letter details both the company's outlook and recent performance, but also provides insight into what leadership finds important more generally. In this letter, Karp addresses Palantir critics and external concerns about the use of Palantir's technology for government surveillance.

Listen to a former Palantir employee's take on the company

Among other former Palantir employees who have spoken out against the company's role in aiding surveillance and in the American government, former content strategist Juan Sebastían Pinto is concerned that Palantir is creating a monopoly over artificial intelligence.

Read about how one of Palantir's cofounders explains the company's founding

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale described the company's driving principle as fighting terrorism in a blog post marking its IPO. Lonsdale also said Palantir's software was developed with a keen focus on privacy, despite many allegations that it enables government surveillance.

Since its founding, Palantir has refused to sell its software to China or Russia

In line with the founding principle of supporting Western institutions, Palantir has vowed to not share its technology with companies or government agencies in China and Russia—which Palantir frequently calls the West's largest threats.

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden once leaked documents suggesting Palantir had a role in alleged surveillance

After releasing documents detailing an NSA surveillance scheme named PRISM (which is also the name of a Palantir service), further documents show that Palantir's software enabled the expansion of the NSA's widest-reaching data programs, XKEYSCORE. Palantir has frequently denied claims of supporting government surveillance and has insisted that its software is designed to maintain "civil liberties," such as privacy.

After the October 7 attacks, Palantir took out a full-page New York Times ad supporting Israel

Palantir provides its software to the Israeli Defense Forces. Alex Karp has frequently said that while his company's support for Israel may be controversial, it's critical to support Western allies.

Palantir's services allow both companies and the government to analyze complex data

There's a common misconception that Palantir buys, sells, and shares data, but Palantir insists it isn't a data broker. Rather, Palantir is more like a data analytics company that allows corporations and government agencies to combine messy, large, and often hard to access datasets to gather insights.

Palantir's executives have become increasingly involved in American politics in recent years

Palantir's government contracts have steadily increased since Donald Trump was re-elected in 2024, moving from intelligence and defense to public health and assisting in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts.

In 2025, more than 10 former Palantir employees published a letter condemning the company's partnerships

Thirteen so-called "ex-Palantirians," condemned a $30M deal that gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement near real-time insights on migrants. The letter, named "The Scouring of the Shire" in a nod to "The Lord of the Rings," alleges that the company is violating its code of conduct by supporting this application of its service.

A Palantir executive was named a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves, including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. The Army says their role in Detachment 201, also known as the Executive Innovation Corps, is to inspire other tech executives to consider how their work can support the US Army—without leaving their careers.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The concept for Palantir's key software came from PayPal's anti-fraud protocol

PayPal, which, like Palantir, was cofounded by Peter Thiel, developed the initial framework for Palantir's data-mining service to prevent financial crime. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Thiel realized the software could also enable government agencies to connect data and prevent similar terrorist attacks from occurring in the future.

In 2020, Palantir moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Denver, CO

Despite being a famous tech startup synonymous with Silicon Valley, Palantir executives and cofounders have criticized tech founders for not taking a bigger role in upholding Western institutions and supporting American defense and intelligence work. That cultural tension is frequently cited as a motivating factor for the company's 2020 move to Denver, CO. In early 2026, the company announced another move to a suburb of Miami, FL.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp is an avid skier

Karp takes health and fitness very seriously and reportedly skis more than five hours each week. He has frequently recommended Norwegian-style cardio training, which emphasizes the length of a workout rather than effort level. In 2023, Karp reported having just 7% body fat—similar to that of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps during the 2008 Olympics.

Palantir's technology is part of a larger shift in modern warfare

As warfare becomes increasingly technical, Palantir executives say artificial intelligence is going to revolutionize how military leaders in war zones make decisions. They argue that this shift towards "algorithmic warfare," or the integration of large technological enhancements like AI, will enable militaries to be more powerful and make fewer mistakes.

Palantir once investigated a cyberattack on the Dalai Lama's computer

In 2008, officials realized the Dalai Lama's email had been hacked after details of an event that hadn't been made public yet began circulating. Palantir's software was able to identify both the hack and the hacker network.

Dario Amodei explains what led to his company being designated a supply chain risk

When pressed about the use of Claude in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Anthropic's CEO acknowledged its contract with the Pentagon. However, he also emphasized that Claude is not to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, in part because the technology is not yet safe or reliable for such uses.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement handles immigration enforcement within the interior of the US

ICE operates inside the United States, enforcing immigration laws through investigations, arrests, detention, and deportation of individuals residing in the country illegally. This page provides an overview of the agency's mission, structure, and internal enforcement operations.

Tim Cook refused to give the FBI a backdoor into iPhones during a terrorism case

The Apple CEO's refusal to comply with the government's request was viewed as controversial, despite support from privacy advocates. The FBI would later back down, claiming to have gained access to the device without disclosing additional details.

The story of Kryptos, the long unsolved cryptographic sculpture outside the CIA's headquarters

Made by American artist Jim Sanborn, the sculpture features four copper plates engraved with messages written with the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet and question marks. The last of these plates was solved in 2025, but the piece remains of interest to cryptoanalysts.

The Agent podcast reveals the true story of a long-term KGB agent in America

Narrated through firsthand interviews, The Agent tells how Jack Barsky (born Albrecht Dittrich) spent a decade undercover as a Soviet KGB “illegal” in the US, balancing dual identities in Queens—from insurance programmer to deep-cover spy—until a crisis forced him to choose between loyalty and family.

Vitalik Buterin’s current thoughts on Ethereum

Vitalik Buterin isn’t just the founder of Ethereum—he’s also a blogger. In this blog post from late last year, Buterin discusses some of his favorite applications built on Ethereum: prediction markets like Polymarket, where users can bet crypto on the outcome of events like elections. Buterin argues that prediction markets also act as news sites for non-bettors, opening the floodgates for many different kinds of info-based apps on Ethereum. Read the post here.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.