WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.837 What have we learned about AI in business that's relevant? And what I 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:08.277 what I what am I pretty certain is going to affect our culture? 00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:10.837 In in philosophy, which I was once going 00:00:10.920 --> 00:00:16.557 to be my métier, and I realized should not be for lots of reasons, including 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.037 most importantly, I thought it was more important to actually do things. But it 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.517 it One of the things people forget about philosophy is the core concepts are 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.517 actually downstream from things that were built in the world. Modern 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:28.517 architecture led to modern philosophy. 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.477 Postmodern architecture led to postmodern philosophy. And there's a 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:36.157 weird way in which I think a lot of the trends that look inscrutable to us are 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.477 actually downstream of tech and culture 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:43.837 and are particularly pronounced in this culture, which is the only culture that 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:46.477 really really matters in AI. It's from 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.997 chips and what we call ontology to large language models to the town, to the 00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:52.677 venture backing, to the understanding of 00:00:52.760 --> 00:00:55.237 how to organize the town. They're in one 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.597 country. And this our country. And this 00:00:58.680 --> 00:01:02.357 does not make sense because the it wouldn't could have made sense in other 00:01:02.440 --> 00:01:05.077 trends, but actually the mathematical 00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:07.037 basis of large language models started 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:12.477 in in in Germany. It was Leibniz's idea of how to do probability and then moved 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.037 through France. And the best mathematicians in the world are mostly 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:18.597 in France and in Russia. And so, what 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:20.517 was it and what is it about what's 00:01:20.600 --> 00:01:23.157 happening that is affecting things that 00:01:23.240 --> 00:01:26.597 look very odd? Why do 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:29.277 Ivy League trained humanities highly 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:31.317 privileged people vote against their 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:34.597 interest, seemingly, to elect political 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:39.597 figures with no experience and who clearly Why are they misaligned with 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:43.477 their own interests? Would be a question. And then, why is it in 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:45.397 America? And I want to just start with 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.117 the most obvious obvious point that is 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.717 so obvious we we forget that the rights 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:53.877 we have in this country are inalienable 00:01:53.960 --> 00:01:56.677 and they're given to us by God. As you 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:58.877 compare this to, say, the German 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:03.797 constitution, which I wrote down the same as where we talk about endowed by 00:02:03.880 --> 00:02:05.517 their creator with certain unalienable 00:02:05.600 --> 00:02:08.437 rights, the German the German version, 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:12.557 which is translated roughly as a conscience conscience of his 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:16.917 responsibility before God, so not from God, and mankind, inspired by the will 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.397 of an equal member it to be part of this 00:02:19.480 --> 00:02:21.557 is rough translation, United Europe and 00:02:21.640 --> 00:02:24.557 to contribute to world peace. Okay. So, 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:29.157 we have these rights that are incorporated in our first and second and 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:31.037 in our fourth amendment that aren't 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.117 given to us by humans, they're given to 00:02:34.200 --> 00:02:37.397 us by a higher power. That's very very 00:02:37.480 --> 00:02:41.957 important in understanding. When you look at businesses as an example, some 00:02:42.040 --> 00:02:45.957 businesses that look that are 5 years appear to be 20 years old. Some 00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:49.197 businesses, you know, we have Rupert Murdoch here who seems to be getting 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:51.477 younger every year. Every year. 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:55.517 I've known you for a long time. Why is that? The principle And then we have 00:02:55.600 --> 00:02:59.837 this So, you have this revelation. It's happening in a country which, at least 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:03.477 constitutionally, obviously not historically, is much much older than 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:07.397 Europe. Is Europe United Europe is only it's under 30 years old and it's still 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:11.757 not clear what it is really. You have a country which should not have been the 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.357 leader of what matters in the world, but 00:03:14.440 --> 00:03:16.877 is the leader in the world. And then we 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.237 have a very big moral problem in the 00:03:19.320 --> 00:03:21.957 basis of most humanity human rights, 00:03:22.040 --> 00:03:26.437 historically, philosophically, legally, except for in America, have been based 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.637 on our basically superior cognitive capacities. 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:34.517 And, you know, as Huntington once famously said, we believe in the West 00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:38.277 that our values are superior. The non-West understands it's our it's our 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:42.717 ability to organize violence, which is an an intellectual and technological 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:44.917 endeavor. And that's the thing that has 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.157 made us, at the end of the day, be able 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:50.757 to be superior over non-human life 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:52.917 forms. With large language models and 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.437 AI, you actually have the first time 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:00.317 where we How do we justify our obvious superiority, not just as a culture, but 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.077 as a species, vis-à-vis something that may be able to do cognitive things that 00:04:04.160 --> 00:04:09.037 we can't do? And we are the lone country that has the basis for this. Our rights 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.957 are not given to us by our intellectual superiority. They're not given to us by 00:04:13.040 --> 00:04:16.957 consensus built in Germany or in the United Kingdom. They're not built to 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:21.477 dedicate to world peace, although that would be nice. They're given to us by 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.877 our right that we were born here as Americans and those rights are 00:04:24.960 --> 00:04:26.957 indelible. This is a very big 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.157 distinction and it's one that we neglect 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.997 and do not talk about and for lots of reasons many in the Valley may not be 00:04:34.080 --> 00:04:37.997 interested in talking about. And then there's And then what Why are these so 00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:42.077 important? First of all, so obviously we have our rights vis-à-vis the machine. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.597 And and I think And then you also have 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.397 What does it mean to be in a world where 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.197 you have very high-end labor being 00:04:50.280 --> 00:04:53.157 exceedingly valuable? Formerly high-end 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.397 labor, meaning you studied humanities 00:04:55.480 --> 00:05:00.357 and you would be working in a 501c3 dedicated United Nations, not being 00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:04.557 objectively valuable. I don't mean morally. Most of us here would look 00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:08.197 askance at that as being misaligned with what they're saying. But even if you 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:12.797 don't view it that way, the reality is a large language model can do all that 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:15.117 work. And if it's an ontology, we can do 00:05:15.200 --> 00:05:17.397 it much much better. So, it's 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:19.837 objectively not valuable. What is 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.357 valuable is working class vocationally 00:05:23.440 --> 00:05:25.917 trained people with specific knowledge. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.037 And here I would see it I see a tethering between the specificity of 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:34.317 America, that we have a constitution given to us by God, that we believe in 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:38.597 higher principles, that we defend them if we need to with our own guns, with 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.437 our own free speech, and with our own rights of privacy, and the specific 00:05:42.520 --> 00:05:47.077 things that create value in the world now, meaning specific knowledge of how 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:50.757 to build something, how to target something, how to protect data, how to 00:05:50.840 --> 00:05:53.157 be a nurse or a doctor. These skills can 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:55.237 be very leveraged and excruciatingly 00:05:55.320 --> 00:05:57.917 important. So, you have a constitutional 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:02.797 and moral tethering of exactly what you would need in one specific culture, and 00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:06.437 that's this culture. But you're going to have a lot of turbulence because we're 00:06:06.520 --> 00:06:09.357 now moving from people who believe they 00:06:09.440 --> 00:06:11.677 deserve empathy. This is one I think the 00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:14.277 biggest tensions. One of the very 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.437 radical things about Palantir that our 00:06:16.520 --> 00:06:18.757 enemies do not believe. We at Palantir 00:06:18.840 --> 00:06:21.677 have maximal empathy for Americans, for 00:06:21.760 --> 00:06:23.717 the right of Americans to be free, and 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.557 for men men and women that actually do 00:06:26.640 --> 00:06:29.517 work. And our society, if you look at 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.517 any professions, what you'll see, we 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:33.637 read the laws so somehow the law will 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.837 not allow us to protect Americans who 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:40.677 are being murdered by fentanyl. But more than more Americans have died of 00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:43.917 fentanyl than have died in any war since World War 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.757 If those were Stanford grads or Cornell 00:06:46.840 --> 00:06:49.317 grads, you can bet your last dollar 00:06:49.400 --> 00:06:53.997 their erudite jurisdictions would read the laws so that you could stop that. 00:06:54.080 --> 00:06:56.277 But they're not. They're working class. 00:06:56.360 --> 00:07:00.437 They're mostly male. They're mostly white. And mostly people don't care. And 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:04.277 we have to change that. When things go wrong because those people know that no 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:08.037 one cares about them, that's also our fault. Like not anyone in this room, but 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:12.597 like we don't show empathy. If you look at If you look at, for example, the way 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:16.877 analysts were neutrally do models, they love the people they like. It shows up 00:07:16.960 --> 00:07:20.517 downstream in the model. That's why Palantir was undervalued. We were 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.197 undervalued and misunderstood because we 00:07:23.280 --> 00:07:27.757 were doing radical crazy stuff they didn't like. If you look all across the 00:07:27.840 --> 00:07:32.877 world and what you're seeing go on in America now is an enormous shift towards 00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:36.557 we have to actually look at where the value is created and have empathy with 00:07:36.640 --> 00:07:40.237 people who really deserve it. And those people have not gotten enough empathy 00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:42.077 and technology is about to change that. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:46.157 And it's going to change everything politically because it is actually real. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.717 The worker, the person on the front, the people that write the scripts that 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:54.557 protect us. All those projects you saw are being done by people with vocational 00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:59.797 training in the military. They're creating enormous value and they deserve 00:07:59.880 --> 00:08:02.757 the respect that they're going to ask for and they're going to get. And 00:08:02.840 --> 00:08:07.197 Palantir and all of us are Palantir are behind that. And that And I this just 00:08:07.280 --> 00:08:09.557 And And then conversely, how do you get 00:08:09.640 --> 00:08:12.357 a situation in this city where you just 00:08:12.440 --> 00:08:14.837 vote for someone who has no experience 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.517 in doing what they're going to do? None. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.637 Even Like I grew up I view myself as classically progressive. I care You know 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.277 what classically progressive is? The government has to work. You know what 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:29.037 that means? You need the very best people. Who are the people? They have 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:33.117 experience running complicated organizations. They have ideas on how to 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.757 run software. They understand the complexity of the law. They enforce it. 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:40.677 If you're really serious about making the things work for the worker, those 00:08:40.760 --> 00:08:44.277 are the people you vote for. Those are the people that need to be in charge. 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:45.997 And that's that's why a lot of these 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:47.957 crazy things are actually very much 00:08:48.040 --> 00:08:51.677 explicable based on what is going on in 00:08:51.760 --> 00:08:54.077 AI and who's creating the value and how 00:08:54.160 --> 00:08:58.797 they create it. Then, last maybe not least on the AI front, one of the 00:08:58.880 --> 00:09:00.957 reasons we are in a kind of a doomer AI 00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:03.277 circle is because you can only explain 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.837 the promise of AI if you understand and 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:08.637 embrace the superiority of America and 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:13.757 its culture. Because there are dangers in AI, but the reality is there's only 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:17.517 two cultures that are going to win in the next year. It's going to be us or 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:22.357 China. The Europe, I spend half my life in Europe. At this point, we when we 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:25.477 talk about Europe, we do exactly the same thing as when we hear about 00:09:25.560 --> 00:09:28.997 educational programs in led by mayors or 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:33.197 safety programs in the inner city. We just say that I really hope it works 00:09:33.280 --> 00:09:35.917 out. Please. And I want Europe to win. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:37.837 But we're on our own. Of course there 00:09:37.920 --> 00:09:40.677 are dangers in AI. And AI is also and 00:09:40.760 --> 00:09:43.117 will never be anything other than a 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.517 dual-use technology. But we must must embrace our ability to build it, our 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.677 ability to own the chips, to own the software, build the large language 00:09:51.760 --> 00:09:54.397 models, and run very very quickly. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.717 Because, again, to quote Huntington 00:09:56.800 --> 00:09:58.557 again, if we are not the ones 00:09:58.640 --> 00:10:01.597 controlling the violence, we will not be 00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:05.717 dictating the rule of law. The things we hold precious in this culture, I would 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:07.797 say embodied by our Constitution and 00:10:07.880 --> 00:10:12.837 especially in our first four amendments, those things will not be the same if we 00:10:12.920 --> 00:10:16.597 are not the dominant technological culture in the world. And while we may 00:10:16.680 --> 00:10:21.397 have tons of disagreements on these things, we must be the those are really 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:23.557 the alternatives. And most of what we 00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:26.397 can do, in my view, to counter our 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.797 adversaries is also to build the technology and then one of the lessons 00:10:30.880 --> 00:10:35.317 of Palantir is no one's coming to defend you. You have to defend yourself. And we 00:10:35.400 --> 00:10:39.317 used to live in a world where you could rely on experts to articulate our 00:10:39.400 --> 00:10:43.197 vision. But who should have to articulate our vision in this last 00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:47.397 election in my hometown, formerly hometown? Like we if we're waiting for 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:51.357 people to articulate and fight for us, we are cooked. And you know, the people 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.917 who disagree with us are like often better organized and 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.957 better motive and more motivated. And that's a huge problem we have to solve. 00:11:00.040 --> 00:11:04.157 Palantirians, half of the reason we succeeded is we were just motivated and 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.917 very organized and very meritocratic. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.717 Meritocracy is the most underestimated 00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:12.597 powerful revolutionary tool that exists 00:11:12.680 --> 00:11:15.557 in any enterprise ever. And that means, 00:11:15.640 --> 00:11:17.437 you know, Shyam is a great example. 00:11:17.520 --> 00:11:19.637 Shyam was not everyone's cup of tea. He 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:22.237 advanced because he really two reasons. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.517 He advanced because I thought he was going to be an incredible human being. 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:30.477 And second, and I'll leave you with this, because I saw him interacting with 00:11:30.560 --> 00:11:34.317 his brother and I was like, if he could love Palantir half as much as he loves 00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:36.997 his brother, we are going to have the 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.197 most important enterprise in the world. 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:42.157 And like, the capacity to identify and 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.157 advance people on a meritocratic base 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.237 that have capacity to care is the single 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:50.677 most revolutionary tool. And my kind of 00:11:50.760 --> 00:11:55.197 thinker has been infected, meaning the progressive party of the Democrats by 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:58.837 people who do not believe in this. And by the way, to my Democratic friends 00:11:58.920 --> 00:12:01.917 here and whoever sees this, that we must 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.997 stand up. One of the most important 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.597 lessons in the West is if you do not 00:12:06.680 --> 00:12:11.517 fight and in as importantly, if you accept the logic that you can never vote 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:15.677 for somebody because of they have some sub belief structure you disagree with, 00:12:15.760 --> 00:12:19.317 you are empowering the radicals in your own party and they will control 00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:22.957 everything. Whether it's immigration in Germany, which functionally controlled 00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:26.437 by people that still believe in chain migration, because you can never do a 00:12:26.520 --> 00:12:30.077 coalition with the right, or whether it's the Democratic Party that is 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:32.997 functionally being torn apart by people 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:34.757 who believe in anti-progressive, 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.237 anti-meritocratic values as embodied by 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.157 not having a border. No progressive ever 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:44.797 has believed in an open border. None, never, has never existed because that 00:12:44.880 --> 00:12:49.557 undermines the value of workers and their labor. And if you want to see what 00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:53.517 happens to a culture when you don't fight, look at there's who's standing up 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:57.037 in my former party to say this is ridiculous. Who stood up in Germany to 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:01.077 talk about migration? We cannot allow ourselves to become Europe. We really 00:13:01.160 --> 00:13:05.677 have to fight. And I'm I'm sure many of the here are going to be involved in 00:13:05.760 --> 00:13:07.757 that. And Palantir, I think has been at 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.117 the forefront of this and I'm most proud 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:15.317 of the fact that we've been able to shift the culture to being in Silicon 00:13:15.400 --> 00:13:19.557 Valley away from being skeptical of America to being pro-America. The idea 00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:23.677 that you would give tools to give Americans an unfair advantage in the on 00:13:23.760 --> 00:13:28.357 the battlefield was viewed as heretical until recently. Now it's viewed as 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:31.637 common sense. The idea that we have we enforced 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:34.077 meritocracy when we were getting sued by 00:13:34.160 --> 00:13:38.917 the DOJ for just basically just hiring the most qualified people. And if you do 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.597 that and you succeed, you can actually change the way people think. 00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:47.880 And thank you.