{"id":1497,"date":"2026-06-27T18:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/06\/27\/wired-for-war-pax-silica-is-ai-slavery-disguised-as-strength\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T18:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:34:26","slug":"wired-for-war-pax-silica-is-ai-slavery-disguised-as-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1497","title":{"rendered":"Wired for War: Pax Silica is AI slavery disguised as strength"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Palantir stands to emerge as the biggest winner in the US push to subjugate Europe and exclude China<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The EU has signed on to \u2018Pax Silica\u2019, a US initiative seemingly designed to shut China and others out of the global AI supply chain and extract resources from Europe for the benefit of Washington\u2019s military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAmerica and Europe belong together; our histories are braided, our destiny intertwined,\u201d<\/em> US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg declared at a summit in Washington on Tuesday. <em>\u201cBut we share more than a past. We share a purpose &#8211; to build a future that answers to our values and is worthy of our inheritance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The European Union, Germany, and Greece signed the Pax Silica Declaration, bringing advanced mobile communications, AI, and critical mineral capabilities into our growing network.<\/p>\n<p>This is what collective economic security looks like. Not dependency. Not vulnerability.\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RkdfaKpMJP\">pic.twitter.com\/RkdfaKpMJP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Under Secretary of State Jacob S. Helberg (@UnderSecE) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UnderSecE\/status\/2069787453909606908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>What is Pax Silica?<\/h2>\n<p>Representatives from the EU, Germany, and Greece signed the pact at Tuesday\u2019s summit, bringing the total number of \u2018Pax Silica\u2019 signatories to 19. They are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Argentina<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Australia<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Chile<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>European Union<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Finland<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Germany<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Greece<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>India<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Israel<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Japan<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Netherlands<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Norway<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Qatar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Republic of Korea<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Singapore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Sweden<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Philippines<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>United Arab Emirates<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>United Kingdom<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2018Pax Silica\u2019 evokes imperial Rome in both name and practice. Its signatories agree to <em>\u201cpartner on strategic stacks of the global technology supply chain,\u201d<\/em> including raw materials, energy, logistics, semiconductor manufacturing, computing, software, and models. They pledge to reduce <em>\u201cexcessive dependencies\u201d<\/em> on nations that <em>\u201cundermine innovation and fair competition,\u201d<\/em> \u2013 an implicit reference to China \u2013 and <em>\u201cprotect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access, influence, or control,\u201d<\/em> \u2013 again, a reference to China \u2013 in exchange for access to this <em>\u201cfull stack of technological advancements that are shaping the AI economy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The pact is largely the creation of Helberg, a China hawk and former adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, whose growing power RT has <a href=\"https:\/\/swentr.site\/news\/638879-palantir-karp-technofascist-manifesto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">already covered in our \u2018Wired for War\u2019 series<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/original\/6a3eacdb203027025e47ede7.jpg\" alt=\"Jacob Helberg and Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp attend the Hill &amp; Valley Forum 2025 in Washington DC, April 30, 2025\"><figcaption>\n                                    Jacob Helberg and Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp attend the Hill &amp; Valley Forum 2025 in Washington DC, April 30, 2025<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                       \u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images;                    \u00a0Jemal Countess                                    <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Who is in Pax Silica and who is against it?<\/h2>\n<p>Notably absent from the list of signatories is France, where President Emmanuel Macron has spent years pushing for <em>\u201cdigital sovereignty.\u201d<\/em> France, and Europe more broadly, he argues, need to end their reliance on American technology and develop homegrown alternatives. To that end, the French government has ditched US-made videoconferencing software, swapped Microsoft Windows for Linux, traded Palantir\u2019s data analytics software for the <a href=\"https:\/\/swentr.site\/news\/641698-france-drops-palantir-chapsvision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">French-developed ChapsVision<\/a>, and invested public funds in Mistral AI \u2013 one of the continent\u2019s few promising AI companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Does Pax Silica undermine national digital sovereignty?<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>\n        <span><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/thumbnail\/6a31a292203027361f185092.jpg\" alt=\"A banner reading 'Palantir out' hangs at a rally in front of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in Paris, France, January 26, 2026\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/641698-france-drops-palantir-chapsvision\/\">French spy agency ditches Palantir<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pax Silica is explicitly opposed to the notion of digital sovereignty. In a blog post published immediately after Tuesday\u2019s summit, Helberg declared the concept <em>\u201cbackward and counterproductive.\u201d<\/em> A world of sovereign nations building their own AI ecosystems, he wrote, would be <em>\u201ca planet of subscale clones, each heroically reconstructing last year\u2019s breakthrough while the breakthrough itself moves on without them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Instead, Pax Silica members can pool their resources, with each nation playing to its own strengths. <em>\u201cOne partner\u2019s compute meets another\u2019s minerals, a third\u2019s talent, a fourth\u2019s capital, and the result is not a sum but a multiplication,\u201d<\/em> he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the surface, Helberg\u2019s sales pitch makes sense. The Netherlands is the home of ASML, which manufactures 100% of the world\u2019s most advanced EUV semiconductor lithography machines; Israel is a chip design and military tech superpower; Australia has the world\u2019s fourth largest rare earth mineral reserves. By bringing these countries into a formal pact, the US denies China access to these spoils and shares them among its allies instead.<\/p>\n<h2>Who does Pax Silica empower most?\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>In reality, Pax Silica is less of a partnership and more of an imperialist resource grab. Washington\u2019s partners provide raw materials, logistics, knowledge, and labor, but the US currently controls 75% of the world\u2019s compute \u2013 the processing power necessary to build, train, and run large-scale AI workloads. Ultimately, the American companies that control this raw power will decide how it is used.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/original\/6a3ea519203027063855b4d4.jpeg\" alt=\"A mockup of a 10GW AI data center at the PORTS Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, 2026\"><figcaption>\n                                    A mockup of a 10GW AI data center at the PORTS Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, 2026<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                       \u00a9\u00a0 PORTS Technology Campus                                                        <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this compute will be theoretically made available to Pax Silica signatories, the treaty is carefully worded to remind them that full access is not guaranteed. The US, it states <em>\u201cwill <strong>endeavor<\/strong> to provide access to trusted partners to the full stack of technological advancements that are shaping the AI economy.\u201d<\/em> Washington is obligated only to try, not to do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/original\/6a3ea59685f5405e67184ba2.png\" alt=\"An excerpt from the 'Pax Silica' declaration\"><figcaption>\n                                    An excerpt from the &#8216;Pax Silica&#8217; declaration<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                       \u00a9\u00a0 US State Department                                                        <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Chained by the pact to Washington\u2019s new Cold War against China, the Europeans cannot look to Beijing if they end up shut out of US computing infrastructure. Likewise, the EU\u2019s self-inflicted energy crisis \u2013 a result of Brussels trading cheap Russian gas for pricier American liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports \u2013 means that Europe will never be able to build and run this infrastructure for itself.\u00a0<strong><br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>How does Palantir stand to benefit from Pax Silica?<\/h2>\n<p>Pax Silica undoubtedly serves the US geopolitical aim of isolating China \u2013 and possibly Russia \u2013 and strangling its technological growth, but it also serves the interests of Palantir and <a href=\"https:\/\/swentr.site\/news\/640730-anduril-industries-taiwan-china\/\">i<\/a>ts fellow defense-tech behemoths, <a href=\"https:\/\/swentr.site\/news\/640730-anduril-industries-taiwan-china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some of whom have admitted<\/a> that their growth model depends on military confrontation with Beijing and a potential world war in the Indo- Pacific.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n        <span><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.05\/thumbnail\/6a19978385f5402c7a6b7c41.jpg\" alt=\"RT composite.\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/640730-anduril-industries-taiwan-china\/\">Wired for War: Could Anduril scam the US into an Indo-Pacific apocalypse?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Palantir needs all the computational horsepower and raw materials it can get to power its autonomous weapons and AI operating systems, and if relations between the West and China deteriorate to the point of military conflict, the company stands ready to supply the weapons that will be used by the US military.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Karp has recently called on the US to prepare for a three-front war against China, Russia, and Iran; Palantir\u2019s marketing material includes images of its \u2018Gotham\u2019 operating system tracking the movements of Chinese warships in the South China Sea. A representative of America\u2019s Frontier Fund \u2013 which invests in Palantir \u2013 told a panel in 2023 that in the event of a <em>\u201ckinetic event in the Pacific\u2026some of our investments will 10x, like overnight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cGreat power competition with China remains top of mind as we continue to invest in moving more of Palantir\u2019s mass west of the international date line,\u201d<\/em> the company\u2019s operations chief, Shyam Sanka, said during a 2024 earnings call.<\/p>\n<p>Although Helberg left Palantir last year to take his position at the US State Department, he spent the previous year working for Palantir and the American government at the same time. While still advising Karp, Helberg served on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, from 2022 to 2024. In this role, he lobbied for increased tariffs on Beijing, a ban on TikTok, and the exclusion of China from the global AI supply chain.<\/p>\n<h2>How have China and Russia responded to Pax Silica?<\/h2>\n<p>Beijing has not directly addressed Pax Silica, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry instead calling on the US and its partners to <em>\u201cadhere to the principles of a market economy and fair competition and work together to maintain the stability of the global supply chain.\u201d<\/em> The ministry has directly condemned previous efforts by the US to lock China out of the tech supply chain, including the US-Japan-South Korea-Taiwan \u2018Chip 4 Alliance\u2019. Beijing has referred to this coalition of chipmaking nations as a brazen attempt by Washington to <em>\u201cdominate the global semiconductor production and supply chain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/original\/6a3eb2bc203027711e294634.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of Russia's largest copper mine Udokan in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, November 5, 2022\"><figcaption>\n                                    An aerial view of Russia&#8217;s largest copper mine Udokan in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, November 5, 2022<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                       \u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images                                                        <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Russian government has not commented on Pax Silica, but Moscow likely views any moves that increase the West\u2019s power vis-a-vis its main trading partner with concern. Russia\u2019s own access to rare earths and energy is not imperiled by the pact, with Russian mining CEO Andrey Trenin writing last year that Russia\u2019s <em>\u201cpath to a sovereign integrated AI industry must begin with [its] unique Arctic rare-earth metal deposits\u201d<\/em> and the creation of investment zones in the country\u2019s frozen north.<\/p>\n<h2>Pax Silica: Membership is a security risk<\/h2>\n<p>By signing the pact, the Pax Silica states are signing up for great power competition and all of the risks it carries. In some cases, signatories are risking more than economic sovereignty. In the Philippines, which signed the pact in April, work has already begun on a 4,000-acre \u2018Economic Security Zone\u2019 on the island of Luzon where a number of key AI-related industries will be based.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Recap: <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UnderSecE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@UnderSecE<\/a> visited the planned Economic Security Zone in New Clark City under the Pax Silica initiative, a partnership between the United States and the Philippines to secure the silicon supply chain. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/PartnersInProsperity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PartnersInProsperity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bpjGiAhACT\">pic.twitter.com\/bpjGiAhACT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (@USEmbassyPH) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USEmbassyPH\/status\/2060511512985268441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The US initially wanted sovereignty over the zone and diplomatic immunity, but Manila rejected Washington\u2019s demands. Negotiations over the zone\u2019s status are still ongoing, but even if the Philippines retains full sovereignty over the area, Filipino nationalists fear that its role as a node in the US military\u2019s AI supply chain could open the Philippines up to retaliation from China.<\/p>\n<p>Helberg has written off these worries as <em>\u201cdisinformation,\u201d<\/em> claiming that concerns over sovereignty risk delaying the Pax Silica project. However, they must be widespread if Helberg felt compelled to pen a 1,200-word blog post writing the concept of digital sovereignty off as a <em>\u201ctrap.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>A warning from Middle Earth<\/h2>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.06\/original\/6a3eaaeb2030277c4b50d56f.png\" alt=\"Saruman consults a Palantir in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring', 2002\"><figcaption>\n                                    Saruman consults a Palantir in &#8216;The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring&#8217;, 2002<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                                                                               <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Palantir derives its name from the obsidian seeing stones in JRR Tolkien\u2019s \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019, through which the dark lord Sauron communicates with his vassals and spies on his enemies. In their dealings with the company, and with Washington, European proponents of Pax Silica would do well to remember how, in the film adaptation of the novel, the wizard Gandalf responds to Saruman\u2019s use of a Palantir: <em>\u201cthere is only one Lord of the Ring\u2026And he does not share power!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palantir stands to emerge as the biggest winner in the US push to subjugate Europe&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}