It was a peculiar part of an even more peculiar letter, where he proceeded to warn against the dangers of "proclaim[ing] the equality of all cultures and cultural values."

For Michael Steinberger, whose new book The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State chronicles Karp's political evolution, the letter was not all that surprising, given Karp's recent turn toward MAGA politics and his penchant for framing his own thoughts in the writing of 20th-century thinkers.

Karp, who has a PhD in neoclassical social theory, has long identified as a socialist and progressive. But over the course of the last decade, Karp has become an increasingly vocal supporter of Donald Trump and the right, expressing skepticism of immigration, support for unfettered AI development and a distaste for left-leaning protesters.

This transformation, which I called Steinberger to discuss, is particularly notable given the company Karp oversees. Palantir compiles and synthesizes vast amounts of data. The company has become hotly controversial under Trump because it has worked with U.S. agencies, including ICE, in their effort to expand their surveillance capabilities.

Karp's Trumpy shift is hardly unique in Silicon Valley these days, but his politics remain idiosyncratic, and Steinberger thinks his evolution is about more than just flattering whichever political party is in power. All of that makes Karp and Palantir an interesting case study for understanding the roots of the MAGA drift in Big Tech, and whether it has limits.

"Karp is not going to say publicly where the red lines are," Steinberger said. "But the thing that I think it's fair to ask is, is there anything that could happen that would cause Karp to reconsider his work with ICE, or that even has implications on his broader work with the government?"

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You reported this book for six years. How would you describe Alex Karp's political evolution in that time?

When I first began talking to him in 2019, he identified as progressive, as a supporter of the Democrats. In six years of ongoing conversation, I would say he has drifted away from the Democrats and the left. I think he would say that the left left him, but clearly his politics have shifted.