The Technological Republic - by Alexander C Karp & Nicholas W Zamiska (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "A cri de coeur that takes aim at the tech industry for abandoning its history of helping America and its allies."--The Wall Street Journal

From the Palantir co-founder, one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025, and his deputy, a sweeping indictment of the West's culture of complacency, arguing that timid leadership, intellectual fragility, and an unambitious view of technology's potential in Silicon Valley have made the U.S. vulnerable in an era of mounting global threats.

"Not since Allan Bloom's astonishingly successful 1987 book The Closing of the American Mind--more than one million copies sold--has there been a cultural critique as sweeping as Karp's."--George F. Will, The Washington Post

Silicon Valley has lost its way.

Our most brilliant engineering minds once collaborated with government to advance world-changing technologies. Their efforts secured the West's dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions.

Today, the market rewards shallow engagement with the potential of technology. Engineers and founders build photo-sharing apps and marketing algorithms, unwittingly becoming vessels for the ambitions of others. This complacency has spread into academia, politics, and the boardroom. The result? An entire generation for whom the narrow-minded pursuit of the demands of a late capitalist economy has become their calling.

In this groundbreaking treatise, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition, arguing that in order for the U.S. and its allies to retain their global edge--and preserve the freedoms we take for granted--the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. The government, in turn, must embrace the most effective features of the engineering mindset that has propelled Silicon Valley's success.

Above all, our leaders must reject intellectual fragility and preserve space for ideological confrontation. A willingness to risk the disapproval of the crowd, Karp and Zamiska contend, has everything to do with technological and economic outperformance.

At once iconoclastic and rigorous, this book will also lift the veil on Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality.

Review Quotes

"The Technological Republic provides a fascinating, if at times disturbing, insight into the reassertion of US hard power."--Financial Times, "Best Books of the Week"

"Equal parts company lore, jeremiad, and homily . . . The primary target of The Technological Republic is not a nation that has failed Silicon Valley. It is more cogent and original as a story about how Silicon Valley has failed the nation."--The New Yorker

"[Karp] and his co-author, Nicholas Zamiska . . . have produced something no less ambitious than a new treatise in political theory. . . . Nuanced, caveated, largely compelling, and reassuringly humble."--The Wall Street Journal

"As clear and bracing as reveille . . . with engaging storytelling . . . Whether or not Americans can agree on how and why to defend the country, Karp and Zamiska make a stirring call for the tech industry to follow Palantir's path and get involved in the effort."--The Washington Post

"A scathing indictment of today's complacent Silicon Valley . . . A big-idea book that's getting a lot of buzz."--Toronto Star

"Fascinating and important. This book is a rallying cry, as we enter the age of artificial intelligence, for a return to the World War II era of cooperation between the technology industry and government in order to pursue innovation that will advance our national welfare and democratic goals."--Walter Isaacson

"A bold and ambitious work, The Technological Republic reminds us of a time when technological progress answered a national calling. It is essential reading in the age of AI, as the direction of Silicon Valley will help define the future of American leadership in the world."--Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and chair of the Special Competitive Studies Project

"[The Technological Republic] is by turns provocative and insightful, and Alex Karp's resilience, patriotism, and depth of experience in our rapidly changing world provide instructive lessons and intellectual arguments for all of us to consider."--Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase

"This is an extremely important book and a gift to every American interested in the future path of our nation. Alex Karp is a brilliant out-of-consensus visionary who has built one of the most consequential companies in America."--Stanley Druckenmiller, investor and philanthropist

"The Technological Republic should be read by everyone who cares about how technology should contribute to the protection of American values and our security. Karp is a true patriot--a loving critic of his industry and his country who wants them both to be better."--General James N. Mattis (USMC Retired)

"Alex Karp and Nicholas Zamiska make a powerful and persuasive case for how ensuring America's competitive advantage in technology will advance not only our national security but also the renewal of our great Republic. We should all be grateful they are fighting for America!"--Senator Bill Hagerty

About the Author

Alexander C. Karp is the co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies. He earned his doctorate in social theory from Goethe University in Germany and is a graduate of Haverford College and Stanford Law School.

Nicholas W. Zamiska is head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the office of the chief executive officer at Palantir Technologies. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.