Palantir executives are divulging hidden details about how America’s national security apparatus and tech sector work together, revealing everything from the “real” story behind the U.S. government’s TikTok ban to the software company’s lethal battle against its enemies.
U.S. taxpayers’ cash and federal contracts helped Denver-based Palantir become a tech giant and the company’s leaders want others in the private sector to follow in its footsteps.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp co-authored a new book debuting Tuesday that calls for the “union of the state and the software industry” within the U.S. and its allies.
Similar to China’s policy of military-civil “fusion” that mandates that private companies to work with the government, Palantir hopes American businesses will support the U.S. government’s interests — but on a voluntary basis.
“The technology sector has an affirmative obligation to support the state that made its rise possible,” Mr. Karp wrote with co-author Nicholas Zamiska.
The Palantir team has also advocated for opposing China’s tech sector, a stance was most recently on display during the battle over whether to ban the China-owned video-sharing app TikTok in the United States over security concerns.
Palantir leaders supported restricting TikTok and recruited former Rep. Mike Gallagher, who spearheaded legislative efforts in Congress to crack down on the app, to help its cause.
The Wisconsin Republican now overseeing Palantir’s defense business spoke candidly about the driving motivation that got the conditional ban of TikTok over the finish line and signed into law by President Joe Biden last year.
At the Munich Security Conference this month, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a former tech executive himself, urged Mr. Gallagher to explain the sudden momentum that advanced the bipartisan bill to force TikTok to divest from its China-connected ownership or face a shutdown.
“I want to see if you’re going to tell the real story,” said Mr. Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a video captured by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein.
Mr. Gallagher paused and explained that the conflict in Israel — not concern about China — created the spark for opposing TikTok on Capitol Hill.
“We had a bipartisan consensus, we had the executive branch. But the bill was still dead until October 7th,” Mr. Gallagher said, referring to Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel in 2023. “And people started to see a bunch of anti-Semitic content on the platform and our bill had legs again.”
Palantir’s argument to get tech companies to openly work with the U.S. government against foreign adversaries is perhaps easier for it to make than some of its competitors. The data analytics company with major military contracts owes much of its foundation to the CIA.
Palantir is the greatest-known success story of In-Q-Tel, the CIA-chartered investment fund that spends federal dollars on tech startups intended to benefit the intelligence community. Alongside other investors, In-Q-Tel placed a bet in the early 2000s on Palantir, which ultimately received a multibillion-dollar valuation when the company went public in 2020.
The combined market value of defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics is now lower than that of Palantir, according to U.S. Global Investors. The investment manager said in a report on Friday that Palantir’s stock climbed 340% last year and already jumped 55% early in 2025.
The company’s rapid rise in the market has emboldened its leaders to speak about their view of the importance of picking sides in the global race for tech dominance.
Mr. Karp addressed shareholders this month with an enthusiastic message that Palantir had “dedicated our company to the service of the West and the United States of America, and we’re super-proud of the role we play, especially in places we can’t talk about.”
“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and, when it’s necessary, to scare our enemies and, on occasion, kill them,” Mr. Karp told shareholders earlier this month. “We hope you’re in favor of that, we hope you’re enjoying being a partner.”
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.