Palantir founder downplays school bombing

Joe Lonsdale told investors it's unfair to judge the February strike on a girls' school in Minab, Iran that killed over 150 people, mostly children. He suggested Iran may have deliberately disguised civilian targets to provoke the US attack.

“It's very easy to judge things from the outside.”

Pentagon blamed Palantir for the strike

Pentagon officials told Bloomberg that overreliance on Palantir technology contributed to the school strike. A UN committee report suggested the attack could be classified as a war crime.

Lonsdale avoids real accountability talk

When asked how tech companies should be held accountable if things go wrong, Lonsdale vaguely suggested maybe there should be laws, but offered no specifics. He has clear financial reasons to avoid pushing for regulation.

Billions invested in defense profits

As managing partner of venture capital firm 8VC, Lonsdale has 6 billion dollars invested in high-tech defense companies. His lobbying groups have spent hundreds of thousands on defense industry issues.

Palantir and Anduril seeing huge contracts

Palantir is seeing a surge in federal revenue under Trump, including an Army contract worth up to 10 billion dollars. Anduril, another Thiel-backed company Lonsdale supports, got a 20 billion dollar Army deal in March.

Lonsdale defends weapons industry morality

He wrote that people in weapons work can be perfectly moral, and that without talented defense workers, America would be speaking German, Russian, or Chinese. He frames defense work as necessary dirty work.

“If we didn't have talented people willing to do the "dirty" work of defense, we'd be speaking German. Or Russian. Or Chinese.”