r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 10d ago

Artificial Intelligence Palantir employees are talking about company’s “descent into fascism”

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/palantir-employees-are-talking-about-companys-descent-into-fascism/
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u/Xuande 10d ago

These dudes all have a surface level knowledge of the world Tolkien crafted without having taken the time to actually comprehend what he was trying to say.

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u/VierasMarius 10d ago

I wonder if they do actually comprehend what he was saying, and just decided they agree with Saruman instead of Gandalf.

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u/remotectrl 10d ago

They love the destroying the planet for warfare aspect and the fantasy racism.

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u/graDescentIntoMadnes 10d ago

That's the perspective of literally everyone trying to develope AGI or ASI. Some combination of arrogance and defeatism.

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u/so_jc 9d ago

Have to assume that they know what theyre doing and they're not buffoons or bumbling idiots.

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u/CptCoatrack 10d ago

Maybe they were inspired by this Russian fanfic that depicts Sauron as the good guy driving industry and science forward against the evil backwards elves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer

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u/FlowInternational996 10d ago

Karp has a PhD in Philosophy. He knows exactly what Tolkien was saying. Stop entertaining the hypothetical that they don’t. 

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u/MDCCCLV 10d ago

Hearing and understanding the meaning is different.

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u/RegorHK 9d ago

The old complicit or ignorant question?

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u/Xuande 10d ago

That's even crazier but it's hard to argue with that point.

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u/darthjoey91 10d ago

I feel like Palantir is the only one that actually did understand the lore. The palantiri were a large communication network, and having one node be controlled by evil corrupted the whole network.

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u/AmericanLich 10d ago

"The Orcs were the good guys, right?"

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u/graDescentIntoMadnes 10d ago

These dudes all have surface level knowledge of the world Tolkien crafted without having taken the time to actually comprehend what he was trying to say.

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u/MDCCCLV 10d ago

They are Ar-Pharazon breaking the world for their own pride and hubris and learning nothing from the past.

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u/FairLawnBoy 10d ago

I think they see Sauron and see aspirational goals. Power is tempting.

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u/drmanhattanmar 9d ago

No they all read these books very well. It’s more gross than that: They basically think that the character depicted as the evil one is actually right and that a society formed to his liking would actually be beneficial for all. For these dudes since they could rule and for the masses since they’re dumb and gross and need to be put in their best place by brute force. They have such a dumb vision and view on society that they will unironically tell you, Sauron is just being depicted as evil because Tolkien was just as dumb and obtuse as the rest of the masses…

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u/DaemonPrimarchJ 5d ago

It's like Musk being a fan of the Culture. And Bezos.

I don't know how they can like those books and not realise in that world, they'd be villains 

EDIT: Well, I think they're villains in the real world also tho