What Is The New Palantir Foundation?
A New Foundation January 17, 2023
“The company we have built Remains the principal means through which we intend to shape the world”
The opening line from the newest letter Alex Karp CEO of Palantir has sent out on their website.
He continues on to say:
“We have been fortunate in that we came of an age as a company just as every large institution in the world was becoming a software enterprise. And we have built what those institutions require both to succeed and survive.”
Alex Karp is talking about B2B software and how they built the data organizational workflow layer for a lot of these organizations to actually be effective. Many of the implementations of this operational workflow thus far have been governmental thus war focused in nature.
“We acknowledge that software can be used as a weapon of war and that ours enables the more efficient targeting and elimination of an enemy.
“But we also understand that the public discourse about the appropriate use of such software is as critical as its construction.
The foundation will serve as an additional means of advancing that discussion.”
The Palantir foundation, their big thing here is that this foundation is going to be key towards explaining the point of Palantir as a company, why they are doing this in the first place.
Defining the confines for why they're software is so effective and efficient and what the foundation serves.
All of this to aid in the critical discourse of that software and its effectiveness around International affairs and defense policy.
Palantir Is an Artificial Intelligence based company. With AI getting so much attention, both good and bad, there needs to be a voice of reason for different communities. Palantir it appears is stepping up to the plate here.
Self Description of The New Foundation:
“A non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing National Security through academic and technical research, support of emerging Technologies, and policy development.”
Already, we see an organization that intends to put their money behind other think tanks. Palantir intends on providing assistance in supporting the institutions or organizations that allow people with bright ideas to explore them further. Create research and academic scholarship that deal with the intersection of new modern technologies and the development of policies to regulate at scale.
There are four focal points from Palantir with this new Foundation,
Academic Research:
“Sponsorship of post-graduate researchers in a range of fields, including Information Technology, the physical sciences, philosophy, the law, and international Affairs.”
Conference:
“An annual conference in Washington D.C., bringing together thought leaders from across industry and government.”
Journal:
“A journal featuring provocative commentary and essays on national security policy and international Affairs.”
Fellowships:
“Award of fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing careers at the intersection of software, defense policy, and international Affairs.”
Each of these focal points intersect when it comes to making big policy decisions. Palantir would like to support voices in support for AI and ML
The World Economic Forum
This announcement was made during the World Economic Forum. There's a reason they're making this announcement now, they want more attention on the subject matter.
Announcing globally that there is going to be a high-level conference, the likes of which Palantir has not done in the past, was a very strategic move.
This annual conference in Washington D.C. comes from wanting to work closer with the D.O.D., the D.O.J. and other governmental agencies. Their brand is going to be plastered all over that conference event.
Even if it costs millions of dollars to host, that couple million dollars in marketing is probably way better than spending it on TV ads, and with $2.4B of cash on the balance sheet, it's not going to be noticeable most likely.
Sponsoring Bright Minds
This idea of sponsoring postgraduate researchers and providing fellowships for undergraduates. If you are a company that creates highly advanced technology in regard to artificial intelligence, you want the academic research in the universities of the global Society at least Western Society on your side. Palantir is one of the leading companies in the world when it comes to AI.
The last thing any AI based company wants is countless press releases depicting Artificial Intelligence as the ignition to the downfall of society. Rather than strictly rely on lobbying to convince the public and the policy makers that AI is for the betterment of society, boosting education is the more honest route.
In a couple years, AI ethics has a good chance at being a full major. If Palantir is sponsoring kids from underprivileged backgrounds to be able to go to Stanford and take these classes and focus on these majors, you're forever going to feel something positive towards Palantir. Potentially you might want to work for Palantir one day in their AI ethics department.
Palantir appears to be giving enough money to actually support critical research, enabling the brightest minds of our western society to gain knowledge and perspective on the subject.
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