Welcome to America’s techno-military future
In recent years, Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft have embedded themselves in US defence and intelligence; now a new generation of Trumpian techno-military startups is on the rise
I’ve written for UnHerd about one the most overlooked stories of our time: Silicon Valley’s growing entanglement with the US security state — and the US military-industrial complex’s evolution into an increasingly powerful techno-military complex, which is poised to grow more powerful than ever under Trump:
As he begins his second term, Trump’s links to the tech industry are vividly clear. Musk, to give one example, pledged substantial funds to Trump’s campaign. He was duly named co-lead of the new Department of Government Efficiency, a role that enables him to directly influence federal budget decisions. Not to be outdone, all the major tech firms have donated millions to Trump’s inauguration fund, with everyone from Jeff Bezos to Tim Cook enjoying front-row seats on Monday. This signals a major political realignment among Silicon Valley elites, traditionally a hotbed of liberal progressivism. Earlier this month, for instance, Zuckerberg announced he would remove fact-checkers from his platforms.
However, this is about more than mere political opportunism, picking a winner and adapting to the new political landscape. Nor can this cosiness be understood simply by what Trump has promised the billionaires: notably taking a more hands-off approach to crypto and AI. What’s unfolding here is part of a much larger story, one that blends Eisenhower’s military-industrial past with Biden’s tech-industrial present. Welcome, then, to America’s techno-military future. With private sector giants behind it, the US security state will become more deadly than ever, even as their reliance on federal contracts exposes both the hypocrisy of the tech bros and the continuity of Trump’s policy programme.
This isn’t a totally new phenomenon: industry’s ties to government, rooted in Cold War militarism, were exactly what Eisenhower feared back in the Sixties. What’s different now, though, is the way American military and intelligence capabilities have been outsourced to Big Tech. Consider Amazon, a major provider of cloud computing services to both the Department of Defense and the CIA. No less striking, Amazon has actively developed AI tools for logistics optimisation and battlefield analysis, further embedding itself in defence operations. Its competitors have moved in a similar direction too. Google’s foray into military technology includes Project Maven, which uses AI to analyse drone footage for surveillance and targeting. Despite internal protests, forcing Google to withdraw from the project, the company continues to provide critical cloud services to government agencies.
Microsoft, for its part, has secured numerous defence contracts, including developing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System for the US Army. A $22 billion scheme, it enhances the situational awareness of troops via augmented reality. Though it’s traditionally boasted fewer links to the Pentagon, Meta has lately entered the field too, making its Llama large language model available for military customers. This last example underscores how Big Tech firms are leveraging cutting-edge AI tools for military ends, further blurring the lines between private innovation and US foreign policy.
Nor are the Big Tech firms alone here, with a new wave of smaller companies emerging in their wake. They call themselves Little Tech — though they’re actually worth billions of dollars, with their wealth often secured through lucrative defence contracts.
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Thomas Fazi
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Fazi: Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, has made similar claims, arguing that to restore legitimacy and strengthen national security, the US should make its enemies “wake up scared and go to bed scared” — something which could be achieved by collective punishment.
KMO: What does this excerpt from the article tell you about the author's commitment to intellectual honesty?
Claude: This appears to be a subtle but significant manipulation of context. The author presents a provocative phrase ("wake up scared and go to bed scared") but then adds their own interpretive conclusion about "collective punishment" as if it were part of Karp's statement or clearly implied meaning.
This is a rhetorical technique that:
Takes a potentially defensible statement about deterrence
Pairs it with a loaded term ("collective punishment") that evokes war crimes
Presents both as if they're equally attributable to the source
It's particularly notable because:
The phrase about making enemies scared could refer to military deterrence, cyber capabilities, or economic pressure
"Collective punishment" is a specific term with clear legal and ethical implications
The author bridges these concepts without evidence that Karp endorsed such an interpretation
This kind of subtle editorializing suggests the author may be more committed to advancing a particular narrative about tech leaders' militant intentions than to presenting their views accurately. It's especially relevant to our discussion about narrative control mechanisms, as it demonstrates how even criticism of institutional power can employ its own forms of narrative manipulation.
It should be remembered that these corporations are headed by Zionists.
the world Zionist power, at the head of financial capitalism. the supreme power. Wars, wars and wars that will reshape the world. End of democracies and constitutions. Digital slavery, slavery and that’s it
''Stoltenberg is considered an expert on transatlantic strategy (specifically in connection with the Ukraine-Russia conflict), which may suggest that the elites behind the Bilderberg Group intend to prioritize military engagement, potentially through covert operations in connection with NATO. This assumption would seem to be supported by the fact that Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies – the AI giant aligned with US intelligence – serves on the Bilderberg board (with Palantir’s co-founder and key shareholder Peter Thiel). Karp, who not unlike his billionaire associate Thiel fancies himself as a visionary philosopher, has claimed that Palantir played a significant role in orchestrating ‘most of the targeting in Ukraine’.''
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/wargames-and-fartcoins-brace-yourselves-for-an-explosive-start-to-2025/#respond
Not only that, but here’s Palantir again:
''Palantir supplying Israel with technology to help in war effort
After holding its first board meeting of the year in Tel Aviv, the US company announced the signing of a strategic partnership with the Israel Ministry of Defense''
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rymy7ret6and here: Tech giant Palantir to hold first board meeting of 2024 in Israel
'' (...)''We stand with Israel. The board of directors of Palantir will be gathering in Tel Aviv next week for its first meeting of the new year. Our work in the region has never been more vital. And it will continue,”- the U.S. company announced
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h14fcrz00t
It is interesting an old article from 2017
-The neo-fascist philosophy that underpins both the alt-right and Silicon Valley technophiles”, which discusses the links of some Silicon Valley figures to the “Dark Enlightenment,” a dark neo-fascist philosophy started by British academic Nick Land in the 1990s.
There are some consistent themes in the Dark Enlightenment, revolving around technology, war, feudalism, corporate power, and racism. “It’s an acceleration of capitalism to a fascist point,” says Benjamin Noys, professor of critical theory at the University of Chichester and author of Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism .
Those who have studied Dark Enlightenment describe an almost cult-like vision of a dystopian future. “It is a worship of corporate power to the extent that corporate power becomes the only power in the world,” says David Golumbia, a new media professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “It becomes militarized, and states break down. For some reason that’s difficult to understand, they seem to think these highly weaponized feudal enclaves would be more free than the society we currently have.”
The major proponent of the movement other than Land is software engineer Curtis Yarvin, who blogs as “Mencius Moldbug.-
-And while most Silicon Valley techies are unaware of and uninterested in Dark Enlightenment, there are notable figures and ideas that seem to share intellectual heritage and connections with the movement.
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel is a major backer of Yarvin’s start-ups and, as The Baffler reports, in 2012, Thiel gave a lecture at Stanford with distinct Dark Enlightenment themes. -A startup is basically structured as a monarchy,” he said at the time. “We don’t call it that, of course. That would seem weirdly outdated, and anything that’s not democracy makes people uncomfortable.-
https://qz.com/1007144/the-neo-fascist-philosophy-that-underpins-both-the-alt-right-and-silicon-valley-technophiles
''The future Reich that our children and grandchildren will see will have a much more definitive and total character than the one we knew between the 30s and 40s. The destructive power that technology puts at the service of humanity is destined to be unleashed because all of humanity today can be eliminated…. What matters above all is our inferiority in the face of the machines we have created. ''(Gunther Anders, Man is Antiquated, Turín, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007, vol. 1, p.57).
https://substack.com/home/post/p-154288036
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