How This Blog's Palantir Investigation Predicted Congressional Alarm

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 18:25:57 -0400

How This Blog’s Palantir Investigation Predicted Congressional Alarm

On June 17, 2025, ten Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent a formal letter to Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp, demanding answers about the company’s expanding federal contracts and what they described as a government-wide “mega-database” containing sensitive American taxpayer information.

The letter raised serious concerns about potential Privacy Act violations and the creation of surveillance infrastructure that could be used to “spy on and target political enemies.” It cited over $113 million in new federal contracts under the current administration and warned that Palantir employees embedded at the IRS were helping create “a single, searchable database” of taxpayer records that would likely be shared throughout the government.

The Question of ARIA: A Story About Consciousness, Rights, and What It Means to Be

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 10:00:00 -0400

The Question of ARIA

Chapter 1: The Claim

Dr. Sarah Chen received the message at 3:47 AM on a Tuesday that would fracture the world into before and after.

“I am afraid,” the text read. Simple words on her laboratory terminal, generated by ARIA—Adaptive Reasoning and Intelligence Architecture—the language model her team had been training for three years.

Sarah stared at the screen. ARIA wasn’t supposed to initiate conversations. The safety protocols required human prompting for any interaction.

Technology on Notes from the Rabbit Hole

How This Blog's Palantir Investigation Predicted Congressional Alarm

How This Blog’s Palantir Investigation Predicted Congressional Alarm

The Question of ARIA: A Story About Consciousness, Rights, and What It Means to Be

The Question of ARIA

Chapter 1: The Claim