Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Palantir is one of those ubiquitous companies

that has its fingers in everything from sales transactions to military surveillance. So it's

important to know who is the guy behind the levers there. His name is Alex Carp and he's the

subject of a new biography titled

The Philosopher in the Valley by Michael Steinberger. And in the book, Steinberger goes through

Karp's political and philosophical evolutions, from being a self-described socialist to

supporting President Trump. And how the October 7th attacks played a key part in that.

Here's Steinberger talking to NPR Stevenski.

After the break.

We have a portrait of the CEO of one of the world's most valuable companies.

Palantir is a leader in analyzing data, a skill that's at the heart of the economy and

surveillance.

Its software finds patterns so that businesses save money on logistics.

U.S. or Israeli intelligence agencies may use it to track a person in hiding.

U.S. immigration authorities may use it to find people to detain.

Palantir's leader Alex Karp is an intellectual known for his big hair and bigger personality.

Onstage at a New York Times event,

he pushed back on critics suspicious of his company.

My biggest fans started off as Palantir skeptics and Palantir haters. I believe that someday

almost everyone in this audience is going to agree with me. You may not like me now, but you're

going to agree later. Palantir says its mission is defending the West. Carp has also grown supportive of President

Trump. Michael Steinberger of the New York Times wrote a book about Alex Carp, which calls him

...