Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s ‘Anti-Woke’ Manifesto Promotes AI Weapons, National Service
A 22-point social media post by Alex Karp, co-founder and chief executive of US tech firm Palantir, has garnered over 30 million views on X. The manifesto, summarising his 2025 book 'The Technological Republic', outlines Karp’s controversial ideological positions, including support for AI weaponry, a call for universal national service, and criticism of the notion that all cultures are equal.
Karp’s statements carry significant weight due to Palantir’s expanding portfolio of UK government contracts. The company provides data platforms for the National Health Service (NHS), the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Financial Conduct Authority, and 11 police forces. Globally, Palantir secures multimillion-dollar deals with the US and other Western governments, including its use of AI-enabled 'war-fighting' technology by NATO and Ukraine.
In the UK, the MoD signed a three-year, GBP#240 million contract with Palantir for technology intended to enhance the 'kill-chain' by fusing data to expedite targeting options. Palantir also holds a GBP#300 million contract to develop a data platform for the NHS, a deal opposed by the British Medical Association (BMA).
Critics express profound unease regarding Karp’s influence. Professor Shannon Vallor, Chair of Ethics of Data and AI at Edinburgh University, stated that 'every alarm bell for democracy must ring'. Dr Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne of Medact, a health campaign group, argued that the NHS's continued contract with Palantir makes the health system 'complicit in Palantir’s violent operations, such as AI warfare, and deeply alarming ideology'.
Karp’s manifesto asserts that some cultures produce 'wonders' while others are 'regressive and harmful', and suggests that a lack of criticism for certain cultures has led to 'hollow pluralism'. He advocates for 'hard power' to protect democracies, dismissing 'theatrical debates' over military technology as detrimental to Western security interests against adversaries. He further argued that the post-World War Two 'neutering' of Germany and Japan was an 'overcorrection' for which Europe is now 'paying a heavy price', implicitly linking it to current geopolitical dynamics in Europe.
Palantir has stated its pride in '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'. However, the company's work with US immigration enforcement and the Israeli military has drawn further criticism from human rights groups, alongside the political views of Karp and co-founder Peter Thiel, a prominent libertarian backer of Donald Trump.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has defended the use of Palantir’s technology but described some of the statements made by the company's leaders as 'abominable'.
