Palantir was created to “blow up” communists, according to the company’s co-founder.
Details. Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir Technologies, wrote on X that the company was founded to fight communism. He made this remark in response to a tweet arguing that the United States must defend its hemisphere from communists, inferring that “every one of them” should be killed — and that this is what Palantir was created for.
► Although the original post incorrectly conflates the capitalist Maduro regime with socialism, Lonsdale's response is nonetheless an explicit and unambiguous declaration of anti-communism.
Context. Palantir Technologies has strong links to the US government and military-intelligence complex, holding major contracts with the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and immigration authorities. Its platforms have been widely criticised for enabling the large-scale aggregation and surveillance of data. In effect, they function as a digital extension of state enforcement power.
► This development is occurring amid a broader resurgence of explicit anti-communism across the Western hemisphere, where socialist movements are routinely equated with fascism to justify repression and intervention. At the same time, fascist glorification and reactionary narratives are becoming increasingly normalised.