The Technological Republic

Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

By: Alexander C. Karp, Nicholas W. Zamiska

Length: Not Yet Known

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Silicon Valley has lost its way. From the founding of the American republic through much of the twentieth century, our most brilliant engineering minds and the democratic state collaborated to advance world-changing technologies. The partnership ensured the West’s dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions.

The modern incarnation of Silicon Valley turned its focus to the consumer market, including the construction of elaborate online advertising and social media platforms. The market rewarded shallow engagement with the potential of technology, as startup after startup catered to the whims of capitalist culture with little interest in constructing the technology that would address our most significant challenges. A generation of extraordinarily talented engineers, insulated from the geopolitical threats of the moment, built photo-sharing apps and marketing algorithms at the expense of projects with the potential to serve a more pressing collective or national purpose.

In this groundbreaking and provocative treatise, Alexander C. Karp, co-founder and chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies, and Nicholas W. Zamiska, head of corporate affairs at the company, offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of creative and cultural ambition. They argue that in order for the West to maintain its geopolitical advantage—and the freedoms that we take for granted—the software industry must redirect its attention to our most urgent challenges and rebuild its relationship with government.

It will be the union of the state and the software industry—not their separation and disentanglement—that will be required for the United States and its allies to remain as dominant in this century as they were in the last. The public will forgive many failures of government and the political class. But the electorate will not overlook a systemic inability to harness technology for the purpose of effectively advancing our welfare and security.

Karp and Zamiska argue that a democratic public’s commitment to free speech, in particular—to preserving space for ideological confrontation and a rejection of intellectual fragility—has everything to do with technological and economic outperformance. An entire generation is at risk of unwittingly becoming a product, a vessel for the ambitions of others, deprived of the opportunity to form authentic and independent beliefs about the world. At once iconoclastic and rigorous, the book will also lift the veil on Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality.

©2025 Alexander C. Karp, Nicholas W. Zamiska (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

'The wizards of America’s digital revolution have produced many shiny consumer products and apps. But they have often remained aloof from engaging in a sense of national purpose or common good. This book is a rallying cry, as we enter the age of artificial intelligence, for a return to the World War II era of cooperation between the technology industry and government in order to pursue innovation that will advance our national welfare and democratic goals. A fascinating and important work' (Walter Isaacson)