Big Tech’s Interests in the Iran War

The data analytics firm now profiting from Operation Epic Fury has long monitored Iran’s nuclear capability – one of Donald Trump’s justifications for the war. Nafeez Ahmed reports

The three most prominent figures in Palantir, the data analytics firm at the heart of producing intelligence on Iran’s nuclear capability, all publicly advocated for such a military confrontation before the launch of Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury.

Palantir’s co-founders, Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale, have argued that conflict with Iran is inevitable, with Lonsdale saying he was hoping to “invest in Iran” following a regime change. Its CEO, Alex Karp, said war would prove the worth of autonomous weapons systems, such as those produced by Palantir.

On 28 February, Trump explained the war with Iran as a campaign to “eliminate the imminent nuclear threat” and said “we are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground”. The President also called on the Iranian people to use the moment to “take back your country”. The rationale has shifted several times.