Palantir CEO Alex Karp Manifesto Sparks Criticism Over UK Government Contracts
A thousand-word social media post by Alex Karp, co-founder and chief executive of US tech firm Palantir, has gone viral, attracting over 30 million views on X. The 22-point manifesto outlines Karp’s controversial ideological stances, including support for AI weapons, calls for universal national service, and a critical view of cultural equality.
Karp’s views have drawn significant scrutiny due to Palantir’s growing portfolio of UK government contracts. The company provides data platforms to the National Health Service (NHS) under a GBP#300 million agreement, a deal opposed by the British Medical Association (BMA). Palantir also holds a GBP#240 million three-year contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for AI-enabled ‘war-fighting’ technology, designed to streamline the ‘kill-chain’ and provide faster targeting options.
Professor Shannon Vallor, Chair of Ethics of Data and AI at Edinburgh University, stated, “Every alarm bell for democracy must ring.” This concern is echoed by others who cite Palantir’s work with US immigration enforcement and the Israeli military as reasons for disqualification from public contracts.
In his manifesto, excerpted from an upcoming book, Karp argues that some cultures are “regressive and harmful” and that the West has “resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity.” He asserts that defending democracies requires “hard power” and that “theatrical debates” about military technology development risk the US losing ground to adversaries. Karp also contends that the post-war “neutering” of Germany and Japan was an “overcorrection” for which Europe is now “paying a heavy price.”
Critics, including Dr Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne of Medact, a health campaign group, argue that the NHS’s continued contract with Palantir implicates the health system in the firm’s “violent operations, such as AI warfare, and deeply alarming ideology.” Palantir, for its part, states it is “deeply proud to be helping the UK government to deliver more NHS operations, speed up cancer diagnosis, keep Royal Navy ships at sea for longer and tackle domestic violence.”
Despite criticism, the Department of Health has defended the use of Palantir’s technology, though Health Secretary Wes Streeting has publicly stated he is “not a fan” of the company’s leadership and finds some of their statements “abominable.”
