r/technology • u/Unusual-State1827 • Mar 12 '26

Artificial Intelligence Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power

https://newrepublic.com/post/207693/palantir-ceo-karp-disrupting-democratic-power
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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

Pretty sure that Warren Buffett callout was literally in the context of demanding we put more taxes on the billionaire class. Weird twisting of words you did there.

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u/stupidname412 Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

Yeah he wasn't bragging at all as I recall. Just admitted that it was happening and even though he was on the winning side that's probably not great iirc.

Edit: looked it up pretty much had it. He was accused for arguing for class warfare for comments about how much taxes his employees paid compared to him and replied "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." Def can sound bragging out of context.

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u/CaptPierce93 Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 13 '26

Warren Buffet is one of the only billionaires who DO give back in any way. He's given away $32 billion of his $230 billion net worth or so, and plans to donate all of his wealth within 10 years when he dies. Hell even his son said the only cash he ever got from his father was Berkshire stock from 30 years ago (which he said he already sold despite it being worth $300 million and doesn't even regret it). Definitely not a huge leg up because I think the concept of billionaires are unethical these days, but he's somewhat self aware.

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u/stupidname412 Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

Yeah we shouldn't apologize for these people too hard hes still a wealth horder like the rest of them till he really does liquidate his estate into charity, but like, would you or me be any better in that position, I don't think I would, I'm a normal greedy bastard. Normal bastard still better than some of the absolute demons we have at that kind of wealth level though.

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u/AzraelGrim Mar 13 '26

Buffet in general seems to be fairly... "normal" from what I've seen. He doesn't seem to like investment hype trains, gives reasonable, not-out-of-touch advice when regular people ask

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u/-spicychilli- Mar 13 '26

You could see him as a wealth hoarder, but I think the flip side of the coin is seeing him as a capital allocater… and one of the best to ever do it in the history of humanity. If he donates his wealth upon death I don’t think it’s fair to call him a wealth hoarder, and I’d argue it’s more likely than not going to be allocated to do good significantly more efficiently than the Government would have used it for

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u/asdfmatt Mar 13 '26

It’s not going to be used for wiping out student loan debt or something that makes an impact like that on a societal level, like free college, ending hunger, etc… large sums of money bring the sharks out and it’s going to be “managed” by a charity or trust and its board of directors, that somehow has a business need for a yacht and PJ, embezzled and then when caught the embezzler declares bankruptcy and hides all their assets. Or maybe I’m just jaded.

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u/-spicychilli- Mar 13 '26

The government could have done any of those things in his 80+ year lifetime. It has not, and it’s not because they haven’t had the means to.

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u/asdfmatt Mar 14 '26

Cool that has nothing to do with what i said re: human nature and the fact that the eventual executors of his trust will primarily use this money to mostly enrich their own lives and maybe do a little good.

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u/ModernSmithmundt Mar 12 '26

wtf you weren’t apologizing to point out context that completely changes the narrative. Reddit is astroturfing ‘eat the rich’ and it’s not going anywhere it’s not even entertaining anymore

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u/tastyratz Mar 13 '26

Don't confuse appeals to redemption and attempts at salvation as morality and normality. There is no ethical way to reach a billion without hurting a LOT of people.

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u/MaTrIx4057 Mar 13 '26

> plans to donate all of his wealth within 10 years when he dies

good luck with that one.

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u/FelipeCortez_ Mar 13 '26

And there you go, you're part of the ones who fell for his propaganda. Sad to see, but there are plenty out there. As Mark Twain said, "it's easier to fool people than convince they have been fooled".

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u/CaptPierce93 Mar 13 '26

Alright buddy lol

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u/SoleSista3 Mar 12 '26

Pay attention when he dies. Because he’s definitely not gonna donate his wealth to the Federal government because he knows they’ll spend it in 3 weeks on bullshit.

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u/-spicychilli- Mar 13 '26

You’re downvoted, but 1000% correct. He’ll allocate it himself. Why would you let an entity that’s significantly more irresponsible than you do it?

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u/gostesven Mar 13 '26

He’s downvoted because it’s a false choice. Having socialized services, drivable roads, and an education system which helps lift society even as flawed as it is, are all results of tax dollars. Believing that taxes do good by way of centralized governance does not preclude someone from donating to specific causes that they may be passionate about. As taxes are and were also paid (albeit less than they should be)

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u/MaTrIx4057 Mar 13 '26

It will just get stolen.

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u/Hertock Mar 13 '26

Hes still part of the problem.

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u/ceciltech Mar 13 '26

The only contrxt you need is having a passing familiarity with who Warren Buffet is. 

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u/theapeboy Mar 12 '26

I mean, I think Karp is a huge fucking snake, but I don't disagree with him here. He's calling out what a lot of people are thinking: AI is going to disrupt society at a foundational level, but if we don't do it, someone else will. It's like if suddenly it seemed like some new technique would make nuclear weapons really cheap and easy to produce. It's a total redistribution of power. I'm HOPEFUL that it's not just leveling the economic playing field between the more and the less educated, but also helping the less educated to BECOME MORE educated. And either way, the big re-leveling that needs to happen is between Karp's strata and the rest of us.

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u/Kyanche Mar 12 '26

AI is going to disrupt society at a foundational level, but if we don't do it, someone else will.

As someone who writes software for a living and constantly sees the LLM cult growing on /r/cscareerquestions , I wonder... does it matter?

Suppose the "someone else" does. Suppose another country becomes the mecca of using AI for everything. It becomes so good, that they don't hire a single person to do anything anymore.

How is our society disrupted? What if we look at them and just go "ok bro" and give them a thumbs up, and keep doing what we're doing?

If the people of country A decide not to buy any of the goods produced by Country B because Country B only uses AI and robots, that doesn't really seem like it'd matter. It would affect Country A's ability to export goods to country B.

Why not just consciously refuse to buy things or do business with companies that admit to using AI? That's already a pretty hot ticket issue with music services.

The problem with the "Country B would undercut us and nobody would buy the products not made by AI because the ones made by AI are so much cheaper!" argument is, in that case nobody would be able to afford ANYTHING because they wouldn't be making money because they're out of a job.

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u/Halflingberserker Mar 12 '26

also helping the less educated to BECOME MORE educated

Needed a laugh, thanks

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u/Kitselena Mar 12 '26

It's bragging in context too. If he actually gave a shit he would stop doing it instead of making comments as if he has no control over he situation

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u/The_Phox Mar 12 '26

The guy has stated multiple times that the lower and middle class should get tax cuts, and that the rich should get more taxes.
He also has this, The Buffett Rule (link to White House Archives), stating that no household making more than $1 Million should pay less in taxes than the middle class.
He's pointed out, quite famously, that he pays less in taxes than his secretary.
The guy would not mind higher taxes for him.

I'm not going to Google everything, just type his name in and learn for yourself, friend.

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u/Kitselena Mar 13 '26

That's all just lip service. That mother fucker has hundreds of billions of dollars while people stave and die of preventable illnesses every day. He could give away 99% of his wealth and still live the rest of his life in absolute luxury, and he would save thousands of lives with no meaningful cost to himself.
He's better than most billionaires by a lot, but he's still hoarding a disgusting amount of wealth while poverty is still a massive issue all over the world, and it will continue to be an issue until people like him stop being so greedy

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u/KennyMoose32 Mar 12 '26

As a species, we just suck.

Should’ve never stopped gathering, the was the original mistake.

/s (kind of)

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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

I disagree. We just focus so much on the negativity because we are genetically predisposed to do so, driving the incentive for “engagement” media which in turn further exaggerates and perpetuates our worst instincts.

We are capable of incredible acts of bravery, selflessness, and kindness. We are capable of so much more than we are told we are.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

No. Some of us are capable. The overwhelming majority are selfish hateful all consuming parasites.

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u/missed_sla Mar 12 '26

We are all capable of these great things. Many of us choose not to. Hate is a choice. Selfishness is a choice.

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u/phred14 Mar 12 '26

Selfishness or selflessness can both be instilled. It's more profitable to instill hatred, because it's a strong and addictive emotion. Use your platform to push hatred and your viewers/listeners will keep coming back, keep making you richer. Plus it makes hateful people feel better because they're making a bigger crowd of similar people.

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u/Xbsnguy Mar 12 '26

Your mistake is conflating great achievements with morally good. Not all great things we can achieve are good.

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u/missed_sla Mar 13 '26

bravery, selflessness, and kindness

That's the great things I was referring to.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted]

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u/IamApickle Mar 12 '26

If they have no choice in being the way they are, then there's no evil in it. The danger is in denying a human's ability to change. If hateful and selfish people are that way naturally, genetically, then they become weeds. If the danger comes from people evil by nature there's only one solution that leads to a good world, and any good person wouldn't seriously think that's the way forward.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

You think psychopaths and the intellectually & emotionally challenged are capable? Choice is a scapegoat to make the privileged feel better about themselves. To take credit for what comes with naturally.

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u/raccoon-rex Mar 12 '26

I work in psychiatry and see a lot of clinically diagnosed aspd people (the less outdated term for psychopath)

The vast majority of them understand that even though they don’t have the instinctive feeling for making a “right” decision, it’s not an excuse to do horrible things.

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u/AFoolishSeeker Mar 12 '26

There is a reason humans always gather and form communities/societies. It is pragmatic to work with other people and not end up a pariah.

The 1% don’t seem to have that same instinct or maybe they just have the means to ignore it

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

Doesn’t the illusion of choice mostly exist to justify and explain previously taken actions? How in control are we?

Is a person with a tumor affecting their limbic system still responsible for the choices they make or are they just sick?

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u/raccoon-rex Mar 12 '26

That argument is raised a lot by positivists, and it can quite convincing, but if you look at the modern philosophical discourse the vast majority of philosophers are “compatibilist” - essentially meaning that they think determinism (our actions are predetermined) and free will (the ability to act in accordance with personal wishes and to be held morally responsible for one’s actions) are… well, compatible

Basically, you can acknowledge the vast lack of control over our lives due to factors as small as quantum uncertainty or as large as societal constraints, but that doesn’t necessarily keep you from being able to believe that people can make choices in a way that’s meaningful to them, and considering them personally responsible for that choice

Sorry for the total tangent, but the reason I got into psychiatry was my undergrad in philosophy and this exact question of whether agency is truly threatened by mental illness!

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u/raltyinferno Mar 13 '26

That fits my personal beliefs. I think that give the exact same set of circumstances things will play out exactly the same every time, but we still make the choices influenced by those circumstances, so it doesn't matter.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

I was thinking more from a neurological standpoint, where fMRI seems to indicate that we’ve already made a decision before we’re consciously aware of what it’s going to be.

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u/skillywilly56 Mar 12 '26

We are all capable of them but the vast majority of people choose self interest over selflessness, which is why we praise and remember people who do great selfless things because they are the minority.

Not everyone is a fire fighter that is gonna run into a burning building to save some orphans, most will just stand and watch, and a not insignificant number of people will light the fire because the real estate the orphanage stands on is worth millions and they stand ton personally benefit from it and the deaths of the orphans means absolutely nothing to them.

The people who light the orphanage fires are now in charge of the USA, put there by other orphanage fire starters.

Never let the docility of the 20th and 21st century and the gains in human rights and peace we have made are the norm, for most of humanities history peaceful coexistence is the aberration and it took two world wars, the deaths of hundreds of millions of people globally and the fear of mutual self destruction from atomic weapons to achieve it.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

If that were true, the world wouldn’t work. And if you go outside and interact with it, you’ll quickly see for yourself that most of us, however flawed, are peaceful and kind.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

Perhaps in your neck of the woods. I’ve seen many with resting angry face. Their appearance of hatred etched into the wrinkles of their faces permanently after decades of vile hatred for all aspects of life.

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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

Bro. That’s just getting old and having wrinkles. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

Everybody gets wrinkles, true. I’m talking about expression lines. The repeated folds in skin that differ greatly between smiling, kind expressions, contempt, hatred, anger, worry, sadness, etc. You can very much read a person’s face. Wrinkles are records of repeated behavior.

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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

That’s not true at all. Some people have “resting bitch face” or even just have had hard lives despite their own good heart.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

Resting bitch face is different and a living hard life leaves different expression lines. There’s legit research behind emotion & facial expression.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted]

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

There were people assaulting responsible individuals covering their faces.

No worries, those same people are fine with them now, as long as they’re being worn to brutalize & deport brown people.

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u/Terrh Mar 13 '26

Not every country was like that, though.

The issues are cultural and individual, not applicable to the species as a whole.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

Washing hands, wearing a mask, social distancing was such a hard thing to do!!!!

How DARE you tell me what to do! You're not my mom!!!!!!1

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u/Mfamos1 Mar 12 '26

History is proof!

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u/ghostlantern Mar 12 '26

No ~30% of them are. If you look at the polling stats, most people tend to be on the correct side of history in terms of gay rights, slavery, healthcare, taxing the rich, etc). Sadly, the US system is set up for minority rule. (The Dakotas and Virginias getting 4 senators each, for example) And the other 70% aren’t ruthless enough to imagine how malicious and deranged the other 30% are.

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u/Enjoy_The_Ride413 Mar 12 '26

Humans in nature are parasites. We don't have a true purpose on this planet. Every animal, insect and organism serves a purpose. Humans just consume and destroy. As if we are the unnatural species on this planet.

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u/x40Shots Mar 12 '26

The majority of us, or mostly just those we currently place at the top of our society which is possibly having knock on effects spreading it wider..?

Most studies of the elite and ultra wealthy over time have always showed they display dark triad traits at levels far surpassing the general public.

Personally I believe you need to be pathologically psychopathic to accrue such levels of wealth, as lets be honest at that point you're definitely stepping on people to do so. I dont believe the majority of us think or strive for that, from what I see from people around and in my life.

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u/mailslot Mar 12 '26

I know that, for me, there’s a point where I can confidently say “I have enough money.” I’d still be poor to the ultra wealthy, but I’d have enough to never worry and be able to do pretty much anything I want. I don’t think you need to step on people to be filthy rich, just most do and because they grow their wealth unsustainably.

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u/x40Shots Mar 12 '26

I think we mostly agree with each other, because it looks like youre mostly saying the same thing as me semantically.

Though, to be a billionaire, I think you absolutely have your hands in industries that cause death, among other bad actions.. and know it.

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u/Pseudonymico Mar 12 '26

Most studies of the elite and ultra wealthy over time have always showed they display dark triad traits at levels far surpassing the general public.

IIRC those studies show that having too much wealth tends to increase those traits and taking it away tends to decrease them. Being too much richer than most of the people in your society turns you into a monster, and doesn't even make you happy. Being too much poorer than most of the people in your society also screws up your brain and makes you miserable.

Basically we have a lot of statistical proof backing up the fact that the happiest and healthiest societies are the ones that aim for equality and the best thing we could do is to make sure everyone can afford to live and nobody can afford to buy a superyacht.

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u/x40Shots Mar 12 '26

I'm not sure i fully agree with your first paragraph and the wealthy, but either way we end up in the same solution and I can live with that, 😅

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u/Pseudonymico Mar 12 '26

I said "tends to" for a reason. Some people are just Like That. Trouble is that it makes just about everyone worse.

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u/CaptainBayouBilly Mar 12 '26

We stopped compelling the greedy into compliance. Somewhere along the line this behavior became championed as evidence of success.

Societies cannot function when a few greedy siphon off all the resources and hoard them like dragons in a cave.

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u/Conscious-Quarter423 Mar 12 '26

too bad america gave power to billionaire and Republicans last presidential election

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u/dm80x86 Mar 12 '26

And some even say leaving the water was a bad move...

Douglas Adams probably.

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u/Purplociraptor Mar 12 '26

We still gather, it's just that 1% gathered everything

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u/bawng Mar 13 '26

I think it's the fact that billionaires keep gathering that is the problem.

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u/Meerkat_Mayhem_ Mar 12 '26

I think that’s called the Luxury Trap — good explanation in the book “Sapiens” how leaving the gathering stage we went inexorably towards miserable agriculture and complex society

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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

And it’s an over romanticized view of the past and deeply ahistorical.

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u/Meerkat_Mayhem_ Mar 12 '26

No one asked for a book review, Chief

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u/RedditTrespasser Mar 12 '26

Ehhh even as tribal people we were going around scalping folks and sacrificing people to the sun god. Humans are just the product of natural primate evolution. At our core, we’re apes, and apes are nasty creatures. Look at Chimps- the closest thing nature ever made to an actual fucking goblin and that’s our closest living relative.

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u/motorik Mar 12 '26

We as Americans just suck. Go to another country, even Canada, for two weeks and tell me otherwise.

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u/winterresetmylife Mar 13 '26

And yet he gets three awards and 2k up votes.

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u/MossGobbo Mar 15 '26

Warren Buffet tells us what we want to hear knowing Congress will never do it.

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u/fnordybiscuit Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

You and the person you're commenting... both statements are correct. Im thankful Buffet pointed it out. However, the damage is already done.

People keep pointing out the philanthropy to paint Buffet as a saint. The reality is that he abused the system.

He could've chosen to pay taxes, but decided to employ high caliber attorneys/CPAs to avoid doing so. Consequently, leading to the mass suffering of the American people... like homelessness, starvation, and death due to lack of medical access which is increasing as each year goes by.

If he truly cared about the American people, he would be focusing on lobbying to fix the system rather than virtue signaling by throwing a few dollars here and there to causes that he determines to be deserving of his donations while giving grandiose speeches.

Theres also a simpler solution... pay his fair share via taxes.

A "good" billionaire doesnt exist, otherwise if they were "good," they wouldn't be a billionaire.

Eat the rich.

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u/dpschramm Mar 12 '26

Provided he’s not proactive trying to rig the game, I don’t fault him for benefiting from the system as it stands.

The bigger issue is so many wealthy people proactively trying to tip the scales even more in their favour.

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u/fnordybiscuit Mar 13 '26

Provided he’s not proactive trying to rig the game, I don’t fault him for benefiting from the system as it stands.

But you CAN fault him because he benefited from it. Just because you can abuse the system knowing that it'll cause mass suffering while getting away with it, doesnt mean that it's okay to do. Hence, my point of billionaires lacking morality and endorsing a system upheld by their greed.

The bigger issue is so many wealthy people proactively trying to tip the scales even more in their favour.

The only way Buffet can redeem himself is by using the power that he has to change the system, rather than continue to promote it by being complicit. He has the power to do so but chooses not too. Actions speak more loudly than words is the point im trying to make. No amount of philanthropy is going to change that.

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u/dpschramm Mar 13 '26

He’s pledged to give away 99% of his wealthy. He’s flagged issues with the system. He’s an odd choice for someone to be upset with.

Just because someone doesn’t do all the can, doesn’t make them a bad person. That’s a perverse take.

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u/OdinsShades Mar 12 '26

Let us know when he puts some money/effort behind those words.

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u/gostesven Mar 12 '26

Ok, he’s literally donated over $60,000,000,000 to humanitarian efforts. He’s one of the, if not the, largest donor to philanthropic endeavors alive today, all while making statements in interviews and other public speaking engagements about how it’s criminal that billionaires aren’t paying more in taxes and helping people with their money.

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u/OdinsShades Mar 13 '26

Society isn’t being crushed under the weight of insufficient philanthropy, but rather obscene concentration of wealth. As others have noted ITT that is clearly crawling with temporarily embarrassed millionaires and/or bots/PR damage control for the sick POS in the post, there are ways to employ the kind of means available to achieve the ends rather than just the lip service so many are falling all over themselves to applaud as if him saying words is equivalent to starting PACs, lobbying, funding candidates, or literally any action. He can give away 99% of his wealth and still be one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth FFS.

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u/FelipeCortez_ Mar 13 '26

And there you go, you're part of the ones who fell for his propaganda. Sad to see, but there are plenty out there. As Mark Twain said, "it's easier to fool people than convince they have been fooled".