Slate Daily Feed What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - War Dot Com
Mar 22, 2026
Jacob Silverman, journalist and author of Gilded Rage who covers Silicon Valley and politics, unpacks Palantir and its CEO Alex Karp. He describes Palantir’s battlefield roots, on-site engineer model, and role in Ukraine. He traces how the company became a defense-tech powerhouse and explores Karp’s persona, politics, and vision for AI and power.
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Palantir As The Connective Tissue Of Big Data
- Palantir builds software platforms that ingest and organize massive datasets to help clients make actionable decisions.
- Jacob Silverman explains Palantir primarily serves military, intelligence, banks, and health systems, enabling analysis rather than directly collecting data.
Engineers Deployed To The Frontlines
- Early Palantir work in Afghanistan involved sending engineers into the field to map IEDs and iterate software with frontline units.
- Silverman describes forward-deployed engineers working with JSOC and using battlefield data and drones to improve tools, later echoed in Ukraine.
Ukraine As A Growth Engine For Palantir
- The Ukraine war became a powerful business and ideological moment for Palantir, functioning as both proof of concept and marketing.
- Silverman notes Palantir engineers actively iterated on software in Ukraine and the company leveraged that visibility for growth.
