Alexander Karp, the co-founder and CEO of Palantir, begins his newly released book with a striking statement: “Silicon Valley has lost its way.”

For the past decade, while Palantir has gained prominence through its work with the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, Karp has generally maintained a low profile. However, in a rare interview with The New York Times last year, he described himself as “progressive but not woke,” holding “a consistently pro-Western view.”

Now, with the publication of “The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West” (co-authored with Nicholas Zamiska, Palantir’s head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the CEO), Karp has written what can be seen as a manifesto. Indeed, Karp and Zamiska refer to it as “the beginnings of the articulation of the theory” underlying Palantir’s vision.

According to their account, Silicon Valley’s initial success was the result of a close collaboration between tech companies and the U.S. government. They argue that this alliance has fractured, with the government leaving the development of groundbreaking technologies to the private sector, while Silicon Valley has shifted its focus inward, concentrating on consumer products rather than projects that address broader security and welfare concerns.

Karp and Zamiska criticize the current state of Silicon Valley, suggesting that its output is dominated by “online advertising and shopping, as well as social media and video-sharing platforms.” They posit that this is a consequence of an industry that prioritizes building things without questioning their value or purpose.

The central argument presented in the book is that the software industry should reinstall its relationship with the government and redirect its efforts towards constructing technologies and artificial intelligence capabilities that tackle the most pressing challenges faced collectively.

They also assert that Silicon Valley’s “engineering elite” has a moral obligation to contribute to the nation’s defense and to the definition of a national project, including questions about the country’s values and what it stands for.

Reviewers have expressed mixed opinions about the book. John Ganz, writing in Bloomberg, described “The Technological Republic” as “not a book at all, but a piece of corporate sales material.”

Gideon Lewis-Kraus, in The New Yorker, characterized the book as an “anachronism,” suggesting it was written before the outcome of the November 2024 election, which has since rendered its vision of a collaborative relationship between Washington and Silicon Valley somewhat outdated.

Interestingly, Karp and Zamiska criticize the reluctance of many business leaders to engage meaningfully in significant social and cultural debates, a critique that comes at a time when at least one prominent business leader, Elon Musk, is taking an active role in politics through his efforts to reform the federal government.

This development is noteworthy, as it reflects a shift in how some in the tech industry are approaching their role in societal and political discourse, diverging from the more detached stance that has been common among tech executives.