Palantir CEO Alex Karp frames artificial intelligence, surveillance and national security as necessary but perilous tools, arguing that civil liberties must constrain their use. He also weighs the technology sector’s growing wealth against a fraying social compact.

Y Combinator chief executive Gary Tan argues that open markets, antitrust enforcement and accessible artificial intelligence tools are essential to preserving the startup economy. He also weighs the promise of personal AI agents against the growing power of technology’s newest giants.

A TechStuff roundtable examines the rival safety philosophies shaping the AI boom, from Anthropic’s bid to encode ethical restraint into Claude to Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman’s insistence on human control. Reporters and biographers trace how personal rifts, military contracts and the murky question of machine consciousness are remaking Silicon Valley’s power structure.

Walter Isaacson presses Elon Musk on artificial intelligence, robotics and the prospect of a future in which human labor, money and control are eclipsed. Musk also reflects on his political detour, social media’s darkening effect and his conviction that curiosity may keep AI aligned with humanity.