AImperialism
Palantir, the AI giant that preaches US dominance
Palo Alto (United States) (AFP) – Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has emerged as Silicon Valley's latest tech darling -- one that makes no secret of its macho, America-first ethos now ascendant in Trump-era tech culture.
Issued on: 29/07/2025 - FRANCE24
Palantir co-founder and CEO Alex Karp believes the United States should be the 'strongest, most important country in the world' © Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
The company's reach spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the US government, and the Israeli military among its ever-expanding client roster.
"We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world," Alex Karp, Palantir's CEO, recently declared at a client conference in Palo Alto, California, where AFP was the only media outlet present.
In armed conflicts -- most notably in Ukraine -- Palantir's tools help evaluate potential targets in real-time, using multiple sources, including biometric data and intercepted phone calls.
"I'm super proud of... what we do to protect our soldiers... (using our AI) to kill our enemies and scare them, because they know they will be killed," the graying, curly-haired billionaire continued, wearing a tight white T-shirt.
Washington has been filling Palantir's coffers.
In the first quarter, the company received $373 million from the US government -- a 45 percent jump from the previous year -- and it's not all miltary spending.
This spring, federal immigration authorities (ICE) awarded the company a $30 million contract to develop a new platform for tracking deportations and visa overstays.
'Like a drug'
The company then secured an investment of nearly $800 million from the US military, adding to the $480 million contract signed in May 2024 for its AI platform supporting the Pentagon's "Project Maven" target identification program.
This marked Palantir's first billion-dollar contract, elevating it alongside government contracting stalwarts like Microsoft and Amazon's AWS.
However, financial results "are not and will never be the ultimate measure of the value, broadly defined, of our business," Karp wrote in his letter to shareholders in early May, where he tossed in quotes from Saint Augustine, the Bible and Richard Nixon.
"We have grander and more idiosyncratic aims."
Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel -- Silicon Valley's preeminent conservative -- Karp, and others with CIA backing.
The company takes its name from the magical seeing stones in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
"Young people would say we're like pure drugs -- very expensive, highly sought after... that make you stronger and better," Karp boasted on stage.
Palantir's expanding footprint at the highest levels of government has raised eyebrows.
Several members of the Trump administration's "DOGE" cost-cutting commission, originally headed by Elon Musk, came from the company.
Recent reports from The New York Times, Wired, and CNN have detailed secret government projects to create, with Palantir's help, a central database combining data from different federal agencies.
'Deeply proud'
This development has created "a lot of concerns about how that information might be used," warned Elizabeth Laird from the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Palantir maintains it isn't building "surveillance technology" or a "central database on Americans."
Unlike most traditional Silicon Valley companies that have kept military projects discreet, Palantir now embraces its defense work openly.
Sasha Spivak, director of strategy, said that when she joined Palantir ten years ago, the company kept its sense of purpose behind closed doors.
"Today we're not ashamed, we're not afraid, and we're deeply proud of what we do and our clients," said Spivak.
Some employee groups are pushing back. In early May, 13 former Palantir employees published a letter accusing tech giants of helping to "normalize authoritarianism under the cover of a 'revolution' led by oligarchs."
They argue that by supporting the Trump administration and DOGE, Palantir has betrayed its stated values of ethics, transparency, and defending democracy.
"When I joined the company... there were many smart, motivated people -- that's pretty rare," said one of the letter’s signatories, who wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisal.
After months of seeking management explanations about Palantir's collaboration with Israel and ICE, several of these employees resigned.
"They said, 'We're a company that's very responsive to employees,' but people asking about Israel were quickly shut down and told, 'That's what we do -- if you don't like it, you can leave,'" the former staffer recalled.
Jeremy David, co-director of the Health division, plays down the controversies.
"My daily life is more about nurses and doctors who often hate us at first and are very grateful at the end," he told AFP at the conference.
On stage, Joe Bonanno, head of data analysis at Citibank, celebrated how one operation that previously required "nine days and sometimes 50 people" now "takes just a few minutes for one person."
"Like I said, and like Alex said, I came to dominate, crush and annihilate. So if you're JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, sorry," he concluded with a broad smile.
Some potential clients quietly admit they don't appreciate the war-like rhetoric, but they see no alternative to Palantir's capabilities.
© 2025 AFP
China’s Blueprint For Global AI Governance – Analysis
On July 26, 2025, amid the grandeur of Shanghai’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on AI Governance, China unveiled what may well become the defining moment in the transformation of global artificial intelligence – its AI Global Governance Action Plan and the bold proposal to create a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, initially headquartered in Shanghai. These moves signal not just China’s confidence, but its willingness to steer AI toward a future grounded in consultation, joint construction, and shared benefit, especially for countries of the Global South.
As Premier Li Qiang delivered the opening address, he framed the current state of AI governance as “fragmented,” with wide differences in regulatory approaches and institutional frameworks across nations. China’s proposal to launch a centralized body reflects not hubris, but pragmatism: a conviction that to manage AI’s accelerating capabilities responsibly, the world needs a broad consensus and unified standards, not a patchwork of regional rules.
Premier Li’s critique of “technological monopolies” and a system in which AI becomes “an exclusive game for a few countries and companies” extends a direct but tactful rebuke of unilateral AI dominance. China positions itself as the antidote, offering openness and inclusion rather than exclusion. Chinese-made AI systems are not theoretical constructs – they are delivering tangible benefits across the world. In Myanmar, Japan, and Brazil, Chinese AI is already contributing new momentum in agriculture, education, and cultural exchange. From precision farming techniques in Myanmar to AI-driven digital classrooms in Brazil and health‑monitoring systems in neighboring Japan, Chinese AI is showing that smart technology can uplift societies in practical, meaningful ways.
While detailed reporting on these deployments remains limited in number of articles, it is widely reported that these partnerships align with China’s Global Development Initiative and global South solidarity strategy, embedding Chinese AI not as a tool of influence, but as an enabler of local development.
Parallel to its global outreach, China is doubling down on its domestic AI ecosystem. In response to escalating U.S. export controls on advanced Nvidia chipsets, local industry has mobilized: alliances like the Model‑Chip Ecosystem Innovation Alliance and Shanghai’s AI Committee were formed to integrate chips, LLM developers, and industry partners including Huawei, Biren, Metax, SenseTime, and more.
Huawei’s unveiling of its CloudMatrix 384 system, with 384 proprietary 910C chips and milestone‑beating performance in key benchmarks, signals that China is rapidly closing the gap with, or in some metrics even overtaking, U.S. AI powerhouses. Tencent’s Hunyuan3D World Model, Baidu’s “digital human” livestreaming avatars, and Alibaba’s Quark AI Glasses further demonstrate the creative breadth and commercialization readiness of Chinese AI innovation.
The newly proposed World AI Cooperation Organization is not just symbolic – it embodies China’s 13‑point AI strategy, which emphasizes open‑source ecosystems, UN‑led dialogue channels, safety frameworks, and equitable access, especially for developing countries.
China explicitly states that it is prepared to discuss arrangements with countries willing to join, inviting over 40 nations and organizations to participate in WAIC‑2025, including delegations from South Africa, Germany, Qatar, Russia, and South Korea. This indicates genuine openness, not coercion.
By tentatively proposing Shanghai as headquarters, China is seeking to leverage the city’s AI infrastructure and cosmopolitan character as an international hub for coordination and innovation, making the organization genuinely global in both form and function.
To counter criticisms that Chinese AI lacks transparency or fosters censorship, Beijing has doubled down on open-source AI licensing models, with companies like DeepSeek and Alibaba releasing large language models for global use. This step has drawn both acclaim and concern – but it undeniably reflects an intent to democratize AI, not hoard it behind walls. At WAIC, Premier Li underscored China’s desire to offer “more Chinese solutions” and “more Chinese wisdom” to the international community – words meant not to signal technological nationalism, but a global public good orientation.
China continues to lead in deployment scale, from smart cities to digital education platforms, giving it a practical edge in shaping AI use cases worldwide. Unlike models centered on competition or coercion, China’s emphasis on consultative multilateralism invites countries to participate rather than passively accept dictated rules. The proposed organization’s focus on the Global South signals a willingness to ensure that AI development benefits those often left behind in digital transformation. And as Western nations use tech controls and export restrictions to limit Chinese advancement, China is answering with self-reliance and cooperation, not retreat or isolation.
Of course, organizing a truly global AI governance body will require surmounting skepticism – about data privacy, algorithmic bias, political neutrality, and transparency. Critics warn that state-directed AI can embed internal ideology or censorship into exported models. The U.S. editorial press highlighted concerns about political alignment in Chinese models – even calling for caution in their deployment overseas.
Yet China’s willingness to open source key models and invite broad membership gives the proposed organization an advantage: accountability through participation, rather than distrust through exclusion.
The test lies in execution: whether the organization remains inclusive and respects local governance norms or becomes a tool for geopolitical leverage. But China’s current posture – promoting broad participation, offering development cooperation, and pushing for open‑source access – marks a meaningful departure from tech monopolism and signals a constructive path forward.
At a crossroads between fragmented regulatory silos and a competitive rush toward monopolistic dominance, the global community needs a bridge. China’s AI Global Governance Action Plan and its proposed World AI Cooperation Organization offer precisely that: a new global architecture grounded in consultation, shared values, and equitable access.
The question now is whether other nations will rise to the moment, engage in building a governance framework that truly reflects global consensus, and deliver AI development that benefits not just a handful of powerful economies, but humanity as a whole. If realized in good faith and with transparency, China has the opportunity to redefine global AI governance – not as a race for dominance, but as a cooperative journey toward shared prosperity. What Beijing has laid out in Shanghai is not just policy – it is an invitation. The world will decide whether to join.
Dr. Imran Khalid
Dr. Imran Khalid is a geostrategic analyst and columnist on international affairs. His work has been widely published by prestigious international news organizations and journals.
The company's reach spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the US government, and the Israeli military among its ever-expanding client roster.
"We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world," Alex Karp, Palantir's CEO, recently declared at a client conference in Palo Alto, California, where AFP was the only media outlet present.
In armed conflicts -- most notably in Ukraine -- Palantir's tools help evaluate potential targets in real-time, using multiple sources, including biometric data and intercepted phone calls.
"I'm super proud of... what we do to protect our soldiers... (using our AI) to kill our enemies and scare them, because they know they will be killed," the graying, curly-haired billionaire continued, wearing a tight white T-shirt.
Washington has been filling Palantir's coffers.
In the first quarter, the company received $373 million from the US government -- a 45 percent jump from the previous year -- and it's not all miltary spending.
This spring, federal immigration authorities (ICE) awarded the company a $30 million contract to develop a new platform for tracking deportations and visa overstays.
'Like a drug'
The company then secured an investment of nearly $800 million from the US military, adding to the $480 million contract signed in May 2024 for its AI platform supporting the Pentagon's "Project Maven" target identification program.
This marked Palantir's first billion-dollar contract, elevating it alongside government contracting stalwarts like Microsoft and Amazon's AWS.
However, financial results "are not and will never be the ultimate measure of the value, broadly defined, of our business," Karp wrote in his letter to shareholders in early May, where he tossed in quotes from Saint Augustine, the Bible and Richard Nixon.
"We have grander and more idiosyncratic aims."
Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel -- Silicon Valley's preeminent conservative -- Karp, and others with CIA backing.
The company takes its name from the magical seeing stones in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
"Young people would say we're like pure drugs -- very expensive, highly sought after... that make you stronger and better," Karp boasted on stage.
Palantir's expanding footprint at the highest levels of government has raised eyebrows.
Several members of the Trump administration's "DOGE" cost-cutting commission, originally headed by Elon Musk, came from the company.
Recent reports from The New York Times, Wired, and CNN have detailed secret government projects to create, with Palantir's help, a central database combining data from different federal agencies.
'Deeply proud'
This development has created "a lot of concerns about how that information might be used," warned Elizabeth Laird from the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Palantir maintains it isn't building "surveillance technology" or a "central database on Americans."
Unlike most traditional Silicon Valley companies that have kept military projects discreet, Palantir now embraces its defense work openly.
Sasha Spivak, director of strategy, said that when she joined Palantir ten years ago, the company kept its sense of purpose behind closed doors.
"Today we're not ashamed, we're not afraid, and we're deeply proud of what we do and our clients," said Spivak.
Some employee groups are pushing back. In early May, 13 former Palantir employees published a letter accusing tech giants of helping to "normalize authoritarianism under the cover of a 'revolution' led by oligarchs."
They argue that by supporting the Trump administration and DOGE, Palantir has betrayed its stated values of ethics, transparency, and defending democracy.
"When I joined the company... there were many smart, motivated people -- that's pretty rare," said one of the letter’s signatories, who wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisal.
After months of seeking management explanations about Palantir's collaboration with Israel and ICE, several of these employees resigned.
"They said, 'We're a company that's very responsive to employees,' but people asking about Israel were quickly shut down and told, 'That's what we do -- if you don't like it, you can leave,'" the former staffer recalled.
Jeremy David, co-director of the Health division, plays down the controversies.
"My daily life is more about nurses and doctors who often hate us at first and are very grateful at the end," he told AFP at the conference.
On stage, Joe Bonanno, head of data analysis at Citibank, celebrated how one operation that previously required "nine days and sometimes 50 people" now "takes just a few minutes for one person."
"Like I said, and like Alex said, I came to dominate, crush and annihilate. So if you're JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, sorry," he concluded with a broad smile.
Some potential clients quietly admit they don't appreciate the war-like rhetoric, but they see no alternative to Palantir's capabilities.
China’s Blueprint For Global AI Governance – Analysis
On July 26, 2025, amid the grandeur of Shanghai’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on AI Governance, China unveiled what may well become the defining moment in the transformation of global artificial intelligence – its AI Global Governance Action Plan and the bold proposal to create a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, initially headquartered in Shanghai. These moves signal not just China’s confidence, but its willingness to steer AI toward a future grounded in consultation, joint construction, and shared benefit, especially for countries of the Global South.
As Premier Li Qiang delivered the opening address, he framed the current state of AI governance as “fragmented,” with wide differences in regulatory approaches and institutional frameworks across nations. China’s proposal to launch a centralized body reflects not hubris, but pragmatism: a conviction that to manage AI’s accelerating capabilities responsibly, the world needs a broad consensus and unified standards, not a patchwork of regional rules.
Premier Li’s critique of “technological monopolies” and a system in which AI becomes “an exclusive game for a few countries and companies” extends a direct but tactful rebuke of unilateral AI dominance. China positions itself as the antidote, offering openness and inclusion rather than exclusion. Chinese-made AI systems are not theoretical constructs – they are delivering tangible benefits across the world. In Myanmar, Japan, and Brazil, Chinese AI is already contributing new momentum in agriculture, education, and cultural exchange. From precision farming techniques in Myanmar to AI-driven digital classrooms in Brazil and health‑monitoring systems in neighboring Japan, Chinese AI is showing that smart technology can uplift societies in practical, meaningful ways.
While detailed reporting on these deployments remains limited in number of articles, it is widely reported that these partnerships align with China’s Global Development Initiative and global South solidarity strategy, embedding Chinese AI not as a tool of influence, but as an enabler of local development.
Parallel to its global outreach, China is doubling down on its domestic AI ecosystem. In response to escalating U.S. export controls on advanced Nvidia chipsets, local industry has mobilized: alliances like the Model‑Chip Ecosystem Innovation Alliance and Shanghai’s AI Committee were formed to integrate chips, LLM developers, and industry partners including Huawei, Biren, Metax, SenseTime, and more.
Huawei’s unveiling of its CloudMatrix 384 system, with 384 proprietary 910C chips and milestone‑beating performance in key benchmarks, signals that China is rapidly closing the gap with, or in some metrics even overtaking, U.S. AI powerhouses. Tencent’s Hunyuan3D World Model, Baidu’s “digital human” livestreaming avatars, and Alibaba’s Quark AI Glasses further demonstrate the creative breadth and commercialization readiness of Chinese AI innovation.
The newly proposed World AI Cooperation Organization is not just symbolic – it embodies China’s 13‑point AI strategy, which emphasizes open‑source ecosystems, UN‑led dialogue channels, safety frameworks, and equitable access, especially for developing countries.
China explicitly states that it is prepared to discuss arrangements with countries willing to join, inviting over 40 nations and organizations to participate in WAIC‑2025, including delegations from South Africa, Germany, Qatar, Russia, and South Korea. This indicates genuine openness, not coercion.
By tentatively proposing Shanghai as headquarters, China is seeking to leverage the city’s AI infrastructure and cosmopolitan character as an international hub for coordination and innovation, making the organization genuinely global in both form and function.
To counter criticisms that Chinese AI lacks transparency or fosters censorship, Beijing has doubled down on open-source AI licensing models, with companies like DeepSeek and Alibaba releasing large language models for global use. This step has drawn both acclaim and concern – but it undeniably reflects an intent to democratize AI, not hoard it behind walls. At WAIC, Premier Li underscored China’s desire to offer “more Chinese solutions” and “more Chinese wisdom” to the international community – words meant not to signal technological nationalism, but a global public good orientation.
China continues to lead in deployment scale, from smart cities to digital education platforms, giving it a practical edge in shaping AI use cases worldwide. Unlike models centered on competition or coercion, China’s emphasis on consultative multilateralism invites countries to participate rather than passively accept dictated rules. The proposed organization’s focus on the Global South signals a willingness to ensure that AI development benefits those often left behind in digital transformation. And as Western nations use tech controls and export restrictions to limit Chinese advancement, China is answering with self-reliance and cooperation, not retreat or isolation.
Of course, organizing a truly global AI governance body will require surmounting skepticism – about data privacy, algorithmic bias, political neutrality, and transparency. Critics warn that state-directed AI can embed internal ideology or censorship into exported models. The U.S. editorial press highlighted concerns about political alignment in Chinese models – even calling for caution in their deployment overseas.
Yet China’s willingness to open source key models and invite broad membership gives the proposed organization an advantage: accountability through participation, rather than distrust through exclusion.
The test lies in execution: whether the organization remains inclusive and respects local governance norms or becomes a tool for geopolitical leverage. But China’s current posture – promoting broad participation, offering development cooperation, and pushing for open‑source access – marks a meaningful departure from tech monopolism and signals a constructive path forward.
At a crossroads between fragmented regulatory silos and a competitive rush toward monopolistic dominance, the global community needs a bridge. China’s AI Global Governance Action Plan and its proposed World AI Cooperation Organization offer precisely that: a new global architecture grounded in consultation, shared values, and equitable access.
The question now is whether other nations will rise to the moment, engage in building a governance framework that truly reflects global consensus, and deliver AI development that benefits not just a handful of powerful economies, but humanity as a whole. If realized in good faith and with transparency, China has the opportunity to redefine global AI governance – not as a race for dominance, but as a cooperative journey toward shared prosperity. What Beijing has laid out in Shanghai is not just policy – it is an invitation. The world will decide whether to join.
Dr. Imran Khalid
Dr. Imran Khalid is a geostrategic analyst and columnist on international affairs. His work has been widely published by prestigious international news organizations and journals.
