Palantir CEO rips Silicon Valley, accuses it of selling out America

Alex Karp, co-founder and CEO of secretive Silicon Valley data miner Palantir, is slamming the tech community for what he considers a breach of its social contract with America. Karp, whose Palo Alto, California-based company provides services to the Defense Department, CIA and FBI, blasted tech companies that refuse work with the federal government to keep the country safe. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has defended such public-private contracts, saying last year his company will continue to do business with government agencies and warned that other tech companies about turning their backs. “If big tech companies are going to turn their back on the U.S. Department of Defense, this country is going to be in trouble,” Bezos said in October. Palantir, which has reportedly been considering an initial public offering as soon as this year, was founded in 2004 by Karp and other ex-Stanford students including PayPal co-founder and outspoken venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Source: www.cnbc.com