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An update on Peter Thiel — and the company he left behind.

On March 31, Iran formally named Palantir Technologies a legitimate military target. It is the first time a US tech company has been designated a combatant by a foreign state in an active conflict.

Palantir's response, six weeks later: a 22-point ideological manifesto published to X on April 18, drawing 32 million views.

Per Fortune: the document argues Silicon Valley has a moral debt to participate in America's defense, that some cultures are "regressive" and "middling," and that AI warfare is not only inevitable but uniquely American. Critics called it technofascism. The stock slid within 48 hours of publication.

CEO Alex Karp went on CNBC in March and effectively confirmed — without technically confirming — that Palantir's Project Maven was the AI targeting backbone for the strike that killed Supreme Leader Khamenei on February 28. Per CNBC: "There's only one product that can actually do that for security."

Per Al Jazeera: while Karp published the manifesto and leaned into the war as a commercial demonstration, co-founder Peter Thiel "is understood to no longer play an active role in Palantir's day-to-day operations."

Thiel sold 2 million Palantir shares on March 2 — four days after the war started — for approximately $290 million. He is currently in Buenos Aires.

The architect built the machine. The machine became a declared military target. The architect left.