Palantir has brought on former Montana Senator Jon Tester in an advisory role ahead of Democrats regaining House and Senate majorities in January. Tester, who lost his 2024 reelection bid, says the arrangement is advisory rather than lobbying, aimed at helping Palantir present its case to lawmakers. The hire comes amid congressional Democrats' accusations that Palantir's government contracts enable mass surveillance, claims the company has repeatedly denied.
text.npr.org
· 2026-11-10
Speaking with Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast, Peter Thiel argued Apple has produced no genuinely new innovations since Steve Jobs died in 2011, though he described the company as a 'pure, well-run value stock.' Thiel said the smartphone itself was the big invention, and Apple's work since has mainly been scaling and branding it.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-26
Peter Thiel has been giving closed-door, invitation-only talks in San Francisco and, in March, Rome, arguing that effective altruism's apocalyptic AI-safety worldview risks producing what he calls the Antichrist. The lectures build on a 2023 talk at the Catholic University of America and focus on eschatology, the theological study of end-times. Thiel reportedly described the secrecy around the talks as good marketing, since restricting access generates more attention than making them public.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-20
Peter Thiel reportedly gave a series of talks in Nashville arguing that calls for AI regulation echo the kind of centralized control associated with the biblical Antichrist. The lectures reportedly frame advocates of AI oversight as enabling this threat, according to the report.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-09
A commentary responds to a New York Times op-ed by Sharon Weinberger, tied to her book 'Valley of Death,' which argues Silicon Valley's countercultural, idealistic image was always a myth and its current embrace of defense contracts and authoritarian-friendly politics is simply market adaptation, not a shift in values. The author counters with a personal anecdote from a 2015 Founders Fund retreat, contrasting computing pioneer Alan Kay's idealistic legacy with venture capitalist Peter Thiel's dismissiveness toward him, suggesting the two cultures have long coexisted rather than one being a false front for the other.
wired.com
· 2026-09-25
A profile piece follows Thinking Machines Lab founder Mira Murati at a black-tie AI-industry gala in San Francisco, where she struggled to be heard over a chattering crowd despite her prominent status as a former OpenAI CTO who now runs a $12 billion startup. The writer uses the scene to explore why, unlike male tech leaders such as Elon Musk, Jensen Huang or Sam Altman, no single woman comes quickly to mind when people are asked who holds the most power in Silicon Valley.
wired.com
· 2026-09-21
AI coding startup Cognition has closed a Series E funding round of $2 billion, valuing the company at $48 billion. The round includes backing from investors such as Peter Thiel, underscoring strong investor confidence in AI-driven software development tools.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-09
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