You should also include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, IBM, Anthropic, and any tech company that has a defence contract with the US Department of Defence / War and ICE or any government.

Yet the big problem is of course for those being “principled” about this subject are not serious themselves as some either work there and profit from it, continue to use their products including LLMs or will concede to using them due to social inertia.

The only time this is taken seriously is when all these contracts are scrapped. (They won’t be.)

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biophysboy 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think the difference is that Palantir is significantly more focused on federal contracts, particularly those related to defense/surveillance.

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heavyset_go 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Large tech companies are defense contractors now.

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AndrewKemendo 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Is there a time they weren’t?

Google got their first DoD contract in 2003 from DARPA.

	▲	stocksinsmocks 3 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Facebook was Life Log, Oracle was Project Oracle. None of the household names in tech are playing straight.

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nurettin 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

WDYM "now"? Companies that get large enough get contracts. Even apple sold power macs iphones and ipads to us mil.

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koakuma-chan 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm throwing out my iPhone and moving to Tibet.

	▲	petre 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		China occupied Tibet?

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XorNot 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Companies that submit bids for contracts get contracts. You would be surprised at the diversity of size and scale of companies which service defense contracts in particular - very small companies can end up in big supply chains because they're the ones who turn up to make the part.

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151212j0j 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Of course that's the goal, but stopping new contract is 1 step toward the goal my friend, got to stop whining and take baby step.

You are saying stopping new coal mine means that everyone need to stop heating now and freeze to death this winter.

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moogly 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Don't let the best be the enemy of the good.

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willtemperley 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Absolutely. We should not contract any of these companies and use British companies instead.

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outside1234 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As a worker in one of the companies above, I can tell you that we aren’t willing to do just “whatever” to win contracts. We have real responsible AI reviews etc. We would not just hand over data to the US government. It doesn’t seem that way at Palantir.

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anonzzzies 2 hours ago | parent [-]

But the issue is, and I am not someone saying we should or can throw everything out, that if the US gov demands it, you have to hand over the data right? If your HQ is in the US? Palantir, for me, is worse because of what they are and their communications as you say, but all of these, when compelled by the courts, have to hand over right?

	▲	whimsicalism an hour ago \| parent [-]
		best not to do business with any foreign country then. neo-isolationism becomes global and all it took was a second Trump term.

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exBarrelSpoiler 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As cliche is it to cry whataboutism, this clearly is. Incrementalism is better than nothing. Sanctimony is FUD. If even one company is suffers at least it’ll serve as a warning to the others.

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aprilthird2021 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

When one domino falls, it will cause many to fall at once