How Palantir is mapping the nation’s data
28 comments
·September 11, 2025mrlongroots
irishloop
Yes. But also, all technologies will eventually be used as weapons. And so its important for us to understand how they can be weaponized and to consider the social cost of that weaponization.
coldtea
>Tech is tech and can be used for both good and bad
It's not that simple, since tech also enables bad that was previously not possible.
ojbyrne
[delayed]
mgh2
They are just a data company capitalizing on the AI hype - when the AI bubble pops, they will too.
When ChatGPT launched, Palantir's stock started climbing by selling its "AI platform".
The cycle follows a marketing funnel: AIDA - awareness, interest, decision, action. https://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-strategy/offe...
FUD: Awareness and interest (AI) - at the initial stages, doomer marketing by big tech to government about its dangers and regulations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt
FOMO: Decision and action (DA) - After selling, it is all about investing in infrastructure and adopting the technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out
Sentiment shift: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44870777
mingus88
The palantir bubble will not pop as long as Thiel and his folk are embedded in USG. The stock took off when Trump/Vance came in and Vance is thiels pick
Their primary technology predates any AI hype by a decade at least, and their strength has always been in deploying great engineers.
mgh2
Compare all data companies profit performance before AI came along: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44741151
Spooky23
A: By acting in contempt of the law.
bobbane
Only partially. As long as the third-party doctrine is valid in the US, they can claim that they're just integrating data from private companies with existing government records.
And those third party companies can, if they choose, tell Palantir to pound sand if they don't have warrants.
The real problem is those third parties know a LOT about us, and it's essentially impossible to opt out of their data gathering. License plate scanners and credit bureaus, anyone?
coldtea
>And those third party companies can, if they choose, tell Palantir to pound sand if they don't have warrants.
And then those third party companies, if they're interesting enough to Palantic or those using Palantir, might get cancelled state contracts, or surprise tax audits, and other pressures... totally unrelated "of course"
0points
One of the most elusive big companies today, imo.
The CEO was present on the most recent Bilderberg meeting.
nakamoto_damacy
This feels like a thread to gather info on trouble makers, and an opportunity to gaslight, especially with such title, like they're doing us a favor.
sporkxrocket
Worth watching the interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp where he's confronted about their role in the genocide of Palestinians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mhNLTy5pbQ
thegainz
Ew, even his response is so gross. Blames Palestinians for their own genocide and casually dehumanizes the protestor.
AIorNot
I mean look at the name of the company for pete's sake: Palantir? Sauron indeed..so much of the valley is enabling the surveillance state at all levels of society.
Silicon valley was supposed to do no evil, no wonder this generation hates tech bros
anthem2025
lol, Silicon Valley has always been evil.
null
yesbut
What a garbage company pushing this precrime crap. No thanks.
ChrisArchitect
Techdirt was a repost of a The Conversation article from August.
Some more discussion on a related story then:
What does Palantir actually do?
tomhow
> Techdirt was a repost of a The Conversation article from August.
Thanks, redirected from https://www.techdirt.com/2025/09/11/how-palantir-is-mapping-...
goldforever
[dead]
aaron695
[dead]
s5300
Very cool how we’re letting a private company become the modern day SS. Especially hilarious when the dude in charge literally grew up in an ex-Nazi stronghold in Namibia.
Should be an absolute red mark to have this company or any affiliated with it in your CV. Absolutely anti-societal.
Xmd5a
>Should be an absolute red mark to have this company or any affiliated with it in your CV. Absolutely anti-societal.
The seeds of the surveillance apparatus are already present in what you prescribe.
I think Palantir is highly misunderstood.
As a technology, it is just database joins. It is just that they are able to pull in data from everything from S3 to SAP to ArcGIS, and provide analytics, visualization etc. on top to provide global visibility into any system.
The visibility can be "show me all illegal immigrant clusters" or "show me bottlenecks and cost sinks in CAHSR construction".
When we offload the moral impetus for society from politics to technology, we also squander control. Tech is tech and can be used for both good and bad. It is not that a strategy that aims to cap downsides by preventing the proliferation of technology is inherently bad, but it is doomed to fail. The evidence for dysfunction is not the existence of Palantir but in the failure of the watchdog layer of society (also called the government).