Alexander C. Karp is co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies. Nicholas W. Zamiska is the company’s head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the office of the CEO. Their book, “The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West,” will be published in February.
The atomic age and the Cold War essentially cemented for decades a calculus among the great powers that made true escalation, not skirmishes and tests of strength at the margins of regional conflicts, exceedingly unattractive and potentially costly. Steven Pinker has argued a broader The great-powers calculus that has helped prevent another world war might also change quickly. But the supremacy of U.S. military power has undoubtedly helped guard the peace, fragile as it might be. A commitment to maintaining such supremacy, however, has become increasingly unfashionable in the West. And deterrence, as a doctrine, is at risk of losing its moral appeal.The atomic age could soon be coming to a close.
Yet the peace that those in Silicon Valley who are opposed to working with the military enjoy is made possible by that same military’s credible threat of force. At Palantir, we are building software architecture for U.S. and allied defense and intelligence agencies that will enable the deployment of this century’s AI weaponry.
In November 2022, when OpenAI released its AI interface ChatGPT to the public, it prohibited its use for “military and warfare” purposes. After the companySuch outrage from the crowd has trained leaders and investors across the technology industry to avoid any hint of controversy or disapproval. But their reticence comes with significant costs. Many investors in Silicon Valley and legions of extraordinarily talented engineers simply set the hard problems aside.