As Palantir, the data-analytics giant that works closely with U.S. armed forces and intelligence agencies, has grown in value on the stock market, its chief executive, Alex Karp, has become the embodiment of a new kind of Silicon Valley billionaire: an unashamed techno-nationalist who evangelizes Western power. In a February letter to his investors, he cited Samuel Huntington, the late political scientist who authored The Clash of Civilizations: “the rise of the West was not made possible ‘by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion ... but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence,’” Karp wrote, quoting Huntington. “He continued: ‘Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.’” The aggressive language has won Karp—who recently co-authored the New York Times best seller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West—legions of followers. Meanwhile, business is booming. In the same shareholder letter, Karp announced that Palantir’s revenue in 2024’s final quarter had increased by 36% over the corresponding period in 2023.
Kumar is a TIME executive editor