Has Silicon Valley lost its way, squandering immense talent and resources on “the trivial and ephemeral” while neglecting critical challenges that could define civilization’s future? With that provocative notion, Nicholas Zamiska (Palantir) kicks off his DLD Future Hub conversation with Ludovic Subran (Allianz).
“The iPhones that are in all of our pockets” are a “wondrous invention”, Zamiska admits. “It’s changed our lives. We use the apps, but is that the best we can do? Is that the crowning achievement of our civilization? Shouldn’t we be directing more energy, more time, more heart, more money to the things that really will move the needle?”
Palantir’s focus lies on national security, medical research, and industrial production, Zamiska points out. He argues that “investment in defense, intelligence, counterterrorism software, AI for the battlefield, has helped facilitate a remarkable period of peace”.
But putting technology, and its makers, at the center of society also creates risks, Ludovic Subran notes, pointing to Elon Musk’s brief role in the U.S. government. “He’s a great inventor, he’s a great company runner – but he was a very poor administrator and I think he really wreaked havoc”, Subran says.
Watch the video to explore this discussion further.
