September 2022 Ukrainian officials urgently ask Elon Musk’s star-striped link to expand satellite coverage to Sevastopol. Their plan: launch a surprise drone attack on Russian ships. Musk refused, claiming He doesn’t want his company to be related to the act of warEven though Starlink, an important Internet service provider for war-torn countries since the Russian invasion in February 2022, has been widely used in combat. This refusal raises urgent questions from the Pentagon, This depends not only on Ukraine’s Starlink But in multiple operational areas.
Since the Iraq War, the United States has Outsourcing the highest logistics and support functions. Today, it cost About third-party contracts more than government employees. Including agencies in the National Intelligence Program (including the CIA, the National Security Agency and the NRO) More than 70% of employees. This privatization has hollowed out public expertise and handed over sensitive infrastructure to companies that are reluctant to give voters but shareholders. Technology companies that are not elected and profit-oriented are not subject to democratic accountability. When governments outsourced core infrastructure, they surrendered to operations and agencies, and as states rely on Silicon Valley, they lost the leverage to regulate it. While Silicon Valley’s entanglement with the government is not new, over the past year, it has graduated from backstage influence to front-line forces, shaping not only services but policies.
The EU has fought back. April 2025, European Commission Apple fined under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and €700 millionand continue to put pressure on X and Google. US companies still dominate Brussels’ lobbying ecosystem More than 20% influence. In contrast, the United States Court precedent and antitrust compliance. Who are citizens and states using when billionaires control satellites, surveillance, voice platforms, and artificial intelligence systems? If the government cannot supervise them, who can?
Become a bureaucratic billionaire
Musk starts Zip2 and Paypal’s clumsy co-founder. Now he is in charge of satellites, voice platforms, space exploration, neuroscience and transportation. In 2022, he completed a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter, pledging “Restore freedom of speech. “In a few weeks, Reporter bannedfact checks were removed, platform The algorithm begins to amplify the right-wing content. During the 2024 election Musk promises $45 million a month. Not surprisingly, Musk and Trump’s positions Visibility surges.
On the first day of his tenure, President Donald Trump Announcement on the establishment of the Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE)appointed Musk to lead it. Doge’s Mission: Intestinal Federal Expansion. result? Nearly 60,000 Federal workers fired DEI program demolition and key contracts span FEMA, FAA and the National Weather Service. February, FEMA contract delayed Recovery response after LA wildfires slows down. In April, Senator Chuck Schumer FAA for layoffs in Newark Airport security breach That took root of hundreds of flights. in May, Cut into the NWS overnight storm coverage Before 42 Tornado-related deaths In Kentucky and Missouri, just a few weeks after the signing of five former NWS leaders An open letter warning “The weather forecast office will be so understaffed that unnecessary loss of life. ” Earlier this month Trump’s cuts to FEMA reduce call rates at the agency From 99% to just 15.9%, thousands of requests were left behind for help.
Meanwhile, Musk’s company is thriving. Last week, a few days after his AI chatbot Grok Strong opposition to generate neo-Nazi content on XMinistry of National Defense Grant the platform a $200 million contract. The deal was less than 10 days after Musk Initiated the American Partyhas a spirit, part of the shape By Curtis Yarvinthe new reaction to blogger’s democratic writings have attracted attention among Silicon Valley technocrats, of course, his Very open breakup with President Trump. In April, Musk served in the White House for a month, a month US Space Team’s $5.9 billion contract locked in 28 SpaceX missions. In early May (on National Space Day!), the government proposes NASA’s Moon Plan, Artemis’ budget cuts by 24%eliminating climate surveillance satellites and transferring $1 billion to Mars, Musk has been Voices about colonization Since 2001. With Musk overlords satellites and rockets, Peter Thiel’s empire operates near home– In a system that determines who is regulated, monitored and more people live.
Monitoring status
Thiel in 2004 with CIA seed money and Tolkien Reference. The Gotham platform, which is able to boost a large amount of government and private data, can now carry out predictive policing, immigration raids and battlefield targets. Since 2013 Used by DHS, CBP, Pentagon and LAPD. Last month, Palantir’s role in ice raids and predictive patrols in Los Angeles Aroused public anger. Mayor Karen Bass calls Los Angeles ” What happens when the federal government moves Enter and keep the authorities away from the state or local governments. “However, this is not the driving surveillance program in major U.S. cities from 2012 to 2018. Palantir works with New Orleans Police Department To test its Gotham software, generate a “hot list” of individuals deemed to be high risk of violent crime. Around the same time, LAPD initiated laser operation using similar prediction logic. Stop LAPD spy report The marked algorithmic bias and excessive quality have disproportionately impacted the Black and Latino communities.
On an international scale, European governments turned to U.S. companies during the 2015 refugee crisis to manage immigration flows and counter-terrorism. Some Countries including Germany and Franceusing Palantir’s Gotham software. although Less than five years later, at least four contracts were cancelledPalantir cites flawed analysis, racial profiles and privacy violations that remain in global military operations, raising sharp questions about their accuracy and bias. It is reported that both Ukrainian and Israeli forces use Gotham Process real-time battlefield data for drones, satellites and soldiers from the ground. According to the state, Israeli forces used Palantir’s AI-assisted positioning in Gazawith the attacks of humanitarian workers, journalists and medical staff, intensified scrutiny.
Thiel believes that from governance to war, technology will one day completely replace human judgment. Gaza demonstrates what is endangered when life or death decides to outsource it to the algorithm, but the war zone is not the only test site for technical operational governance. Billionaires are building cities.
Privatization power, one city at a time
In 2009 – a year of co-founding Seasteading Institute About autonomy, floating city-state desire, beyond the scope of the government – Thiel declares him “No longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. ” The institute, though disappeared, presents a vision of privatization, inspired neoliberal manifestos such as Patchwork, and Yarvin’s 2017 political system outlines the political system of a democratic world ruled by a company-owned “patch” Published under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug. Former Coinbase CTO and Silicon Valley futurist Balaji Srinivasan expands directly into Yarvin’s vision Network statusadvocate online organizations to raise funds for digitally-first communities, define shared goals and acquire land. Srinivasan calls this approach “a form of technological Zionism””, drawing on the idea that diaspora drives state formation, but corporate land purchase rather than territorial conquest.
Próspera, Privately ruled entrepreneurial city in Rota, Hondurasis the sovereign experiment of Silicon Valley in microscope. With the support of U.S. venture capital, including Thiel and Srinivasan, Próspera Zede Frameworkcollect your own taxes, enforce company-friendly regulations, and establish private courts with little state supervision. But the initiative has sparked fierce opposition: human rights protests, environmental issues, and the repeal of the Zede District under the new Honduras legislation in 2021. Próspera responded Sued Honduras for $11 billion – almost one-third of the country’s GDP.
This privatization governance is not limited to Honduras. In Texas, Musk increased his political spending, Hire more lobbyists and luxurious state legislators than ever There are tens of thousands of meals and gifts. exist possible,,,,, Boca Chica residents – many SpaceX employees – voted to reinvent Texas City into a constellation: A de facto corporate town with full control over development and zoning. Environmental groups, indigenous communities and non-Spacex residents It will limit access to sacred sites and accelerate damage to protected land, warnings said. Now, the same logic extends to public lands. Trump’s big billthis spring debate aims to allow the privatization of federal land for corporate development. After the last minute push by environmental advocates, The bill was rewritten to exclude nearly 300 million acres of sales.
But a broader vision remains: a privately owned “free city” that floated with low taxes, corporate-run enclaves during Trump’s 2024 campaign – backed by the same investor behind Próspera (Próspera) (Thiel and Mark Andersonthrough its firm Promonos Capital). From government surveillance to private cities, the line between state and startups has almost disbanded. Over the past decade, tech companies have embed themselves into public infrastructure. Today, government agencies rely on them for basic operations, from disaster response to national security. But as the cost is visible, the growth of public skepticism is growing: delayed recovery efforts, mass surveillance and widening accountability gaps, while taxpayer dollars are all flowing into private contracts. As digital ethics scholar Nick and nick and nick and discuss in their book, Data acquisitionToday’s technology monopoly treats public infrastructure, privacy and personal data as digital Terra Nullius– Landless in the colony. But they are not satisfied with the power in the cloud. Like traditional colonists, they wanted land.
