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‘It beggars belief’: MoD sources warn Palantir’s role at heart of government is a threat to UK’s security (www.thenerve.news)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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Palantir, the US AI surveillance and security firm with hundreds of millions of pounds in UK government contracts, poses “a national security threat to the UK”, according to two anonymous high-level sources working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

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[–] 16 points 7 months ago

Palantir is a threat to the fucking human race.

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    15 comments in c/technology@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 39 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    People in power making dangerous decisions about things they don’t understand. Recipe for a Good Time. For someone, anyway.

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    • [–] 23 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    Damn. The security (theater) obsessed Far-Right Labour government wouldn't be kicking the barn door open to a foreign government's mass surveillance company for any kind of insidious reason, you think?

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Nah, i fully believe they just don’t have a clue. I mean, what’s the hypothesis here, that they’re deliberately trying to fight the Antichrist alongside Thiel?

    A podcast i listen to had, a few months ago, a story where a minister who was waxing lyrical about the benefits of AI and was asked something basic like about hallucinations or something and they literally never heard of them. Had no clue what the questioner was talking about

    I think that’s the level that basically all politicians understand technology at

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    a minister who was waxing lyrical about the benefits of AI and was asked something basic like about hallucinations or something and they literally never heard of them

    "I don't know about this thing that runs counter to my policy. I've never heard of it. I'll have to look into it."

    Pretty standard politician-speech for "Sit down and shut up, I don't want to talk about this".

    Maybe the minister sincerely hadn't heard of AI hallucinations. Or maybe they were just being coy. Either way, the new information isn't going to shape their decision because they're not governing based on information provided by the general public. They've got a coterie of lobbyists and partisan insiders who have already made the choice on their behalf.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    The point is that at every turn the UK government and politicians in general have demonstrated an absolute lack of understanding of technology

    I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised if they genuinely didn’t understand the threat that Thiel poses

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    That's the story that gets told. But in an economy in which technology is increasingly designed to be hostile to the public, this appears to be a case of them doing exactly what they intended.

    I think there's a real possibility that Palantir's capacities are heavily overstated. Historically, the real hazard presented by these panopticons is False Positives. Hobbling your nation's ability to do any kind of productive enterprise because you've surrounded yourself with the illusion of threatening behavior.

    But even in this scenario, you're still left with the evil/stupid conundrum. If your MPs are just getting paid off to make excuses, insisting that they lack understanding misses the point. They vote the same way even if they do.

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    • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    God damn, how did he UK populace become the Alabama of the EU? What happened over there?

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  • [–] 15 points 7 months ago

    Thatcher, but it also happened elsewhere under different names, and the New Labour response to it. And then technology outstripping the intellect of politicians.

    Basically the introduction of private industry deep into government became commonplace under Thatcher. Blair didn't roll it back, and transitioned labour into a party that also invited private money. It was a transformation spearheaded by one Peter Mandelson. You may know him from such hits as "My best friend is Epstein" and "I was a US ambassador".

    He seems to be the the introduction conduit for companies like Palantir into government.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    1970s. I wasn't alive then so I don't know what it was, probably something mi5 put in the water. But since then over 50% of all turkeys that can be bothered to vote, have chosen a pro-xmas candidate.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I think they are all lifelong believers since the get-rich-quick schemes initiated by “the city” and hutch prices. They’re all landlords with shares in the grain market, and this constant feed of grain down their gullets has turned them into plump idiots. Many of them even don’t even care we’re getting close to Xmas any more, there are even Xmas cultists

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    • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    No fucking shit

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    5 comments in c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk view that post
    [–] 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

    What makes Palantir such coke for governments? I somehow suspected the UK Govt wouldn't be able to resist them, but I still don't understand why

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    It might help that Mandelson's lobbying firm, Global Counsel, had Palantir as a client and set up a meeting with Starmer on their behalf. Obviously I'm not suggesting this wasn't entirely in the nation's interest.

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    3 comments in c/privacy@programming.dev view that post
    [–] 9 points 7 months ago

    Of all the 'no shit' that can be, this is one

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    [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Palantir, a US company, also doing contracts with Pentagon, completely ok with how Trump runs things, enthusiastic supporter of world-wide surveillance will surely play fair when it comes to the data it collects from other countries right? For instance does training an AI model solely on the data it collects from other countries considered a breach of these terms? Or advisors who have a deep understanding of the analysis conducted on these data passing on this knowledge to other parties (for a handsome fee)?

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    [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    Is someone familiar with The Nerve?

    Every time I discover an online media, I try to find out if has a good track record, ie pass fact checks, attempt to be objective. But I find little about this one.

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