Wall Street’s darling of the past year — Palantir — also seems to be one of the companies that best represents the sign of the times that we’re living in. The powerful, yet secretive data analytics firm (it takes its name from the visionary stones in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings) has long been a star in the world of defense contracts, big data and artificial intelligence.
In 2024, Palantir was the best-performing company in the S&P 500 index. Its stock value has risen by over 500% since January of that year, despite falls in recent days. And the firm’s CEO — Alex Karp — has just published a book titled The Technological Republic(2025), in which he makes an impassioned call for Silicon Valley to collaborate in government projects. According to him, this will allow for innovation in national security and artificial intelligence: music to the ears of the new U.S. administration.
I a civilised society, this sort of business would be outlawed