Ran into someone working at Palantir that was above the average foot soldier. They bragged about not having a moral compass. I think that some people enjoy being part of something influential, even if the influence is destructive. "Look at how much money I'm making, how respectable I look, and what interesting social and technical engineering challenges I tackle".

Btw, has anyone heard of Palantir internally cosplaying a paramilitary org? Ranks and designations and such on their equivalent of Discord. I don't remember the details now, but when I saw that it left the impression that these people are detached from reality. I wonder how pervasive this practice is.

Related: Pulitzer Prize Winners 2026 (80 points, 27 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48015097

"Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal and Yael Grauer, contributor, of Associated Press

For an astonishing global investigation into state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance, created in Silicon Valley, advanced in China and spreading worldwide before returning to America for secret new uses by the U.S. Border Patrol."

Well deserved for the winners.

Quick, someone bury the "Do Palantir workers think they're the bad guys?" thread!