00:00If a US Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it.
00:04And the same goes for software.
00:06This is from a recent ex-post by US data giant Palantir.
00:10It went viral and has sparked international controversy.
00:14Why?
00:14Well, Palantir's surveillance and data analysis tools are widely used by governments around
00:20the world.
00:21They directly impact people in policing, border control and in war.
00:26I think it's not only marketing, but it is at world view, I've called it techno-fascism.
00:32This is Marc Kuckelberg, he is a renowned Belgian philosopher of technology.
00:36We asked him to help us make sense of the 22 strongly worded statements found in Palantir's
00:42post.
00:42Which, by the way, are kind of a summary of this book, written by Palantir's CEO Alex Karp.
00:48So what does the so-dubbed Palantir Manifesto say?
00:52Let's dive in.
00:54Claims like this one, coming from a tech company with strong ties to the military, could seem
00:59like a good publicity stunt.
01:01Marc Kuckelberg says there's much more to it.
01:04I was really surprised.
01:06I was surprised that a private company gives a kind of ideological vision.
01:12I think that their goal is not only to make money, but their goal is also to change things
01:19politically.
01:20Judging from the views expressed in the ex post, Palantir's vision is a pretty militant
01:25one, with US technology at the center of global power dynamics.
01:29It is a call, I think, to become a new military industrial complex and the scary thing is that
01:35they are already, right?
01:37They are really very closely tied with the state, with the Trump regime and they really support
01:44specific military and security actions through their technology.
01:50The data analytics company Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp.
01:56First investors were the CIA and the FBI.
02:00Today, the company has contracts with governments and companies around the world.
02:05Put simply, Palantir builds software that helps clients analyze large amounts of data
02:10from various sources.
02:11Especially the Gotham system has made headlines.
02:14Military clients use it to assess scenarios and develop strategies.
02:18By combining signals, sensors, reports and other data into one picture.
02:24Palantir's products play a huge role in two conflict zones.
02:28The company has a strategic deal with Israel's defense ministry for AI-driven battlefield analytics.
02:35Reports claim that its software is integrated into AI targeting systems in Gaza and help generate
02:41human target lists.
02:43Palantir denies wrongdoing.
02:45The US reportedly used Palantir during Operation Epic Fury in Iran, enabling the killing of Iranian
02:52supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
02:54Palantir suggests, technology is the key to power in a new and increasingly volatile world.
03:00And they portray highly controversial technologies as unavoidable measures.
03:05This rhetoric has been used before.
03:08It has been used by far-right governments and fascist movements.
03:15The others are the enemy and we have to defend ourselves.
03:20So, AI is here slowly but surely inscribed in that logic and inevitable as a weapon of war.
03:31But the tech is also used domestically.
03:33In the US, ICE uses it to track immigrants.
03:37Palantir software analyzes data from several US federal agencies.
03:41It quickly processes biometric and surveillance data.
03:44Also, information like social media posts and border entry logs.
03:49Palantir says, it can track people in near real-time and even predict crimes.
03:55Yeah, so at first, of course, fighting crime sounds good.
03:59Like, who's against fighting crime?
04:02But what's behind here is that, of course, with AI, with digital technologies, there are a lot of new methods
04:09to crack down on your own citizens, to repress them, to arbitrarily arrest them and so on.
04:18Using AI for mass surveillance can have dangerous consequences and a big societal impact.
04:24Think about it.
04:25What would it do to you, knowing you could be tracked down by authorities at any time?
04:30And how would it impact the decisions of people in power?
04:33Palantir is already, also in Europe, for example, giving their technology to police forces.
04:40There are contracts.
04:42But what I'm really worried about is that these law enforcement institutions,
04:48that they do not only buy technology, but that they also buy this particular ideology.
04:54I think here, Palantir really offers not only tools, but also a vision of what government should do.
05:02To sum it up, for experts worldwide, Palantir is intentionally pushing a tech narrative
05:08that will raise their profits.
05:10And by embracing right-wing concepts, national security above everything else,
05:14the company is already impacting the lives of many people worldwide.
05:19What's your take on all of this?
05:21It's largely giving up our privacy a fair price to pay for more safety,
05:25or are you concerned that this will lead us into techno-fascism?
05:29Let us know.
05:33For more information, thisis is special action.
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