How Big Tech Captured the Army

Palantir and AI are inside the house.

(Composite by Hannah Yoest / GettyImages / Shutterstock)

1. Detachment 201

Late last week the Department of Defense did something interesting: It made four tech executives lieutenant colonels in the U.S. Army.

You read that right. Executives from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI were given military commissions. Just like that.

How did this happen? Why is it happening? The answer is complicated and it predates Donald Trump. But in way, it’s about Trump, just the same. Because it points to yet another failure of the federal government in its encounter with the internet.

This is a long story about technology, war, business, and liberalism. By the end I think you’ll be able to see—pretty clearly—what the implications are for democracy more broadly.

I hope you’ll take the ride. Now strap in.