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Silicon Valley has lost its way.
A generation of talent has been led astray.
And a moment of reckoning has arrived for the West.
From one of tech’s boldest thinkers and his longtime deputy, a sweeping indictment of the West’s culture of complacency, arguing that timid leadership, intellectual fragility, and an unambitious view of technology’s potential in Silicon Valley have made the U.S. vulnerable in an era of mounting global threats.
Silicon Valley has lost its way.
Our most brilliant engineering minds once collaborated with government to advance world-changing technologies. Their efforts secured the West’s dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions.
Today, the market rewards shallow engagement with the potential of technology. Engineers and founders build photo-sharing apps and marketing algorithms, unwittingly becoming vessels for the ambitions of others. This complacency has spread into academia, politics, and the boardroom. The result? An entire generation for whom the narrow-minded pursuit of the demands of a late capitalist economy has become their calling.
In this groundbreaking treatise, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition, arguing that in order for the U.S. and its allies to retain their global edge—and preserve the freedoms we take for granted—the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. The government, in turn, must embrace the most effective features of the engineering mindset that has propelled Silicon Valley’s success.
Above all, our leaders must reject intellectual fragility and preserve space for ideological confrontation. A willingness to risk the disapproval of the crowd, Karp and Zamiska contend, has everything to do with technological and economic outperformance.
At once iconoclastic and rigorous, this book will also lift the veil on Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality.
Praise
“The wizards of America’s digital revolution have produced many shiny consumer products and apps. But they have often remained aloof from engaging in a sense of national purpose or common good. This book is a rallying cry, as we enter the age of artificial intelligence, for a return to the World War II era of cooperation between the technology industry and government in order to pursue innovation that will advance our national welfare and democratic goals. A fascinating and important work.”
—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“In today’s complicated geopolitical, technological, and economic environment, the authors’ ability to be both well spoken and outspoken in The Technological Republic can help us understand important issues about the future prosperity of the United States and its allies. The book is by turns provocative and insightful, and Alex Karp’s resilience, patriotism, and depth of experience in our rapidly changing world provide instructive lessons and intellectual arguments for all of us to consider."
—Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase
“This is an extremely important book and a gift to every American interested in the future path of our nation. Alex Karp is a brilliant out-of-consensus visionary who has built one of the most consequential companies in America. His insights into how he did so and how we allocate future defense spending and the role our leading technology companies should play in helping defend our nation against hostile adversaries is both provocative and invaluable.”
—Stanley Druckenmiller, American investor and philanthropist
“The Technological Republic should be read by everyone who cares about how technology should contribute to the protection of American values and our security. Readers may not agree with every observation in Karp and Zamiska’s compelling, essential book, but it demands to be read, particularly at this dawn of the age of Artificial Intelligence. Alex Karp is a true patriot—a loving critic of his industry and his country who wants them both to be better.”
—General James N. Mattis (USMC Retired)
“Alex Karp's book might be titled ‘A Free-Thinkers Manifesto.’ He decries the arrogance and small-mindedness of Silicon Valley and explains his passionate commitment to defending the West and its cultural values. Karp is a polymath: He and his co-author Nicholas Zamiska take the reader on an intellectual tour from anthropology to art and music to history and philosophy to explain what matters for our survival and success.”
—David Ignatius, columnist, the Washington Post, and bestselling author of Phantom Orbit
”Karp’s rallying cry for a ‘Technological Republic’ sets out clearly what must happen for the democratic world to maintain its pre-eminence in the age of artificial intelligence. Engineers and technologists must use their talents to ensure the digital future enhances our democratic freedoms, not undermines them. This book is a wake-up call for tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond.”
—Anders Fogh Rasmussen, founder, Alliance of Democracies Foundation, and former NATO Secretary-General (2009-2014)
“The Technological Republic combines fascinating insights into Palantir’s mode of operation (it’s influenced by the way bees swarm, comedians improvise, and Isaiah Berlin thought) with Alex Karp’s uncompromisingly national-liberal political philosophy. This is a stirring manifesto for a new Manhattan Project for the AI Age.”
—Niall Ferguson, New York Times bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and Doom
About the Authors
Alexander C. Karp is co-founder and chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc. The company, which was established in Palo Alto, California, in 2003, builds software platforms and artificial intelligence capabilities that are used by defense and intelligence agencies in the United States and allied nations around the world, as well as companies across the commercial sector. Dr. Karp is a graduate of Haverford College and Stanford Law School. He earned his doctorate in social theory from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
Nicholas W. Zamiska is head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the office of the chief executive officer at Palantir Technologies Inc. He also serves on the board of directors of the Palantir Foundation for Defense Policy & International Affairs. Mr. Zamiska received his J.D. from Yale Law School and is a graduate of Yale College. He was born in New York City.
Contact
For media inquiries, please contact Tammy Blake,
Penguin Random House: tblake@penguinrandomhouse.com
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