In a recent interview, Alex Karp said that his company Palantir was the most important software company in America and therefore in the world. He may well be right. To some, Palantir is also the scariest company in the world, what with its involvement in the Trump administration's authoritarian agenda. The potential end point of Palantir's tech is an all-powerful government system amalgamating citizens' tax records, biometric data and other personal information the ultimate state surveillance tool.
In 2025, Trump administration officials-primarily at the Departments of State and Homeland Security-created a mass surveillance program to monitor constitutionally protected speech by noncitizens lawfully present in the U.S. Using AI and other automated technologies, the program has surveilled the social media accounts of visa holders and lawful permanent residents...
Microsoft launched a review on August 15, shortly after the Guardian article was published. According to Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith, the review is based on two principles that the company applies worldwide. Firstly, not supplying technology for the mass surveillance of citizens. And secondly, protecting the privacy rights of customers. He emphasized that Microsoft is not a country or a government, but a company that independently determines which products and services it offers.
The laws create a new interconnected intelligence system dubbed the Central Intelligence Platform, under which intelligence and security agencies at all levels of government -federal, state and municipal-have the power to access, from any entity public or private, personal information for "intelligence purposes," including license plate numbers, biometric information, telephone details that allow the identification of individuals, financial, banking, and health records, public and private property records, tax data, and more.
Walk down the street and you're likelyto be recorded by one of thousandsof security cameras, some belongingto the New York Police Department,others just connected or available to the department's databases. Drive into the city and traffic cameraswill automatically photograph your car, capturing your vehicle's license plate, make, model, color, distinctive markings and even passengers. Post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok and the N.Y.P.D. can scrape and store your messages, capturing your thoughts, plans, political statements and friend groups.
