Ivan Pešić

the West is a fine place and worth fighting for.

Because we get asked a lot. The Technological Republic, in brief. 1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation. 2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible. 3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public. 4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software. 5. The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed. 6. National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost. 7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a debate about the appropriateness of military action abroad while remaining unflinching in our commitment to those we have asked to step into harm’s way. 8. Public servants need not be our priests. Any business that compensated its employees in the way that the federal government compensates public servants would struggle to survive. 9. We should show far more grace towards those who have subjected themselves to public life. The eradication of any space for forgiveness—a jettisoning of any tolerance for the complexities and contradictions of the human psyche—may leave us with a cast of characters at the helm we will grow to regret. 10. The psychologization of modern politics is leading us astray. Those who look to the political arena to nourish their soul and sense of self, who rely too heavily on their internal life finding expression in people they may never meet, will be left disappointed. 11. Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies. The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice. 12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.I. is set to begin. 13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet. 14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war. 15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia. 16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk’s interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn. 17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives. 18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena—and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within. 19. The caution in public life that we unwittingly encourage is corrosive. Those who say nothing wrong often say nothing much at all. 20. The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted. The elite’s intolerance of religious belief is perhaps one of the most telling signs that its political project constitutes a less open intellectual movement than many within it would claim. 21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful. 22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what? Excerpts from the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, by Alexander C. Karp & Nicholas W. Zamiska techrepublicbook.com

This needs to become illegal. It is data collection + intimidation of existing employees + stock market manipulation + HR pretending to be working. Literally nothing is good about it and it damages the social fabric a lot.

The person who tells you other people's secrets is telling other people yours.

Saying yes to everything is just fear wearing a productivity mask.

Discipline feels like a cage until you realize every undisciplined man is already in one.

Most people optimize for comfort. Then spend their whole life uncomfortable with who they became.

But I'm an absurdly optimistic person, so with the EU Inc proposal and something like this coming from the most notorious bureaucrats in the bloc, I still have hope for 🇪🇺.

They bitch about the supposed rise of fascism and then implement policies that could not get more tyrannical.

Last day at xAI. xAI's mission is push humanity up the Kardashev tech tree. Grateful to have helped cofound at the start. And enormous thanks to @elonmusk for bringing us together on this incredible journey. So proud of what the xAI team has done and will continue to stay close as a friend of the team. Thank you all for the grind together. The people and camaraderie are the real treasures at this place. We are heading to an age of 100x productivity with the right tools. Recursive self improvement loops likely go live in the next 12mo. It’s time to recalibrate my gradient on the big picture. 2026 is gonna be insane and likely the busiest (and most consequential) year for the future of our species.

Introducing Claude Opus 4.6. Our smartest model got an upgrade. Opus 4.6 plans more carefully, sustains agentic tasks for longer, operates reliably in massive codebases, and catches its own mistakes. It’s also our first Opus-class model with 1M token context in beta.

I am utterly depleted.

More than a "mistake". Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder killed nuclear, approved Nord Stream, then left to be chairman of Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft three weeks later. The Ukraine war is effectively a proxy war with Germany, which has sent far more money to Russia than Ukraine.

Yesterday a quasi-judicial body in Italy fined @Cloudflare $17 million for failing to go along with their scheme to censor the Internet. The scheme, which even the EU has called concerning, required us within a mere 30 minutes of notification to fully censor from the Internet any sites a shadowy cabal of European media elites deemed against their interests. No judicial oversight. No due process. No appeal. No transparency. It required us to not just remove customers, but also censor our 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver meaning it risked blacking out any site on the Internet. And it required us not just to censor the content in Italy but globally. In other words, Italy insists a shadowy, European media cabal should be able to dictate what is and is not allowed online. That, of course, is DISGUSTING and even before yesterday’s fine we had multiple legal challenges pending against the underlying scheme. We, of course, will now fight the unjust fine. Not just because it’s wrong for us but because it is wrong for democratic values. In addition, we are considering the following actions: 1) discontinuing the millions of dollars in pro bono cyber security services we are providing the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympics; 2) discontinuing Cloudflare’s Free cyber security services for any Italy-based users; 3) removing all servers from Italian cities; and 4) terminating all plans to build an Italian Cloudflare office or make any investments in the country. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. While there are things I would handle differently than the current U.S. administration, I appreciate @JDVance taking a leadership role in recognizing this type of regulation is a fundamental unfair trade issue that also threatens democratic values. And in this case @ElonMusk is right: #FreeSpeech is critical and under attack from an out-of-touch cabal of very disturbed European policy makers. I will be in DC first thing next week to discuss this with U.S. administration officials and I’ll be meeting with the IOC in Lausanne shortly after to outline the risk to the Olympic Games if @Cloudflare withdraws our cyber security protection. In the meantime, we remain happy to discuss this with Italian government officials who, so far, have been unwilling to engage beyond issuing fines. We believe Italy, like all countries, has a right to regulate the content on networks inside its borders. But they must do so following the Rule of Law and principles of Due Process. And Italy certainly has no right to regulate what is and is not allowed on the Internet in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Brazil, India or anywhere outside its borders. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FIGHT AND WE WILL WIN!!!

THE EU HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED CRYPTO PRIVACY WITH DAC8 As of January 1, 2026, the DAC8 law is live across the European Union. This marks the definitive end of anonymous crypto holdings for every resident in the member states. What this means for you: Automatic Reporting: Every exchange and service provider is now legally required to send your name, tax ID, and full transaction history directly to national tax authorities. Total Visibility: The law covers crypto-to-fiat, crypto-to-crypto, and most importantly, transfers from exchanges to your private hardware wallets (Ledger/Trezor). Mandatory Compliance: Platforms are now legally obligated to freeze your account and block all transactions if you fail to provide your Tax Identification Number (TIN). Global Reach: Non-EU exchanges serving European customers must also comply with these reporting standards or face being blacklisted from the EU market. Tax authorities now have an automated dashboard tracking your digital assets. Data collection for the 2026 tax year has already begun. Privacy has never been more important than right now.

Once again I have to mention how crazy it is that there’s a “European Union” and it’s not the premier world power.

Happy New Year everyone! Wish you lots of health, love, happiness, success, deeper connections, and meaningful projects to work on. Let's make it the best one yet!

What you are saying is not true in any meaningful way. You can say whatever you want as an untethered hypothetical, but here in reality, what you are actually advocating for is NOT a 1-2% wealth tax for established billionaires - it is a 5% tax calculated all in one year, payable (with interest!) over the subsequent five. That puts massive risk on founders with zero risk for you or Califorjia - as I just pointed out, one market correction (or worst case but sadly common, the company goes under) and I am homeless on the street with literally billions of dollars in debt that cannot be discharged even in bankruptcy. Nor does this initiative you are pushing have ANY sort of provision for founders like me with illiquid shares in unprofitable companies - if I have to come up with billions of dollars, how can I possibly keep putting all our profit back into new R&D that keeps our warfighters safer? You are effectively forcing companies to immediately pivot into profit obsessesion over mission or long-term sustainability! Again, you say that isn't what you support, but that claim is not consistent with what you are actually doing. This is all extraordinarily frustrating politician-speak that nobody in the industry is dumb enough to fall for. It is the same as saying you support reasonable speed limits with higher speeds for rural areas even as you explicitly push for a national 55mph speed limit, all the while claiming with a smile that you "support" a wide range of speeds. No, you don't, and no, you don't.

Amazing. Love this administration and these values - go after the bureaucrats who are violating the principles of our civilization and using state power to harass our citizens for free speech, and terrify others who might think to do so 🇺🇸

You are entering the final stages of undevelopment. The brain drain to dynamic economies will soon leave no technical workers on your shores. Tourism will soon be the largest contributor to your economic output. Your entire workforce will soon be educated in manufactured disciplines like social business studies—and their only skill will be regulatory lawfare. Your descendants will look back and wonder how you squandered the opportunity that Europe had.

🇪🇺 So good to see the world wake up to the terrors of the European Commission I hope all the attention helps European people via their country's governments force the European Union to reform and redesign its structure to one that's actually democratic No indirect appointment of corrupt cronies but actual democracy close to the people It also makes no sense to have 720 members of the European Parliament, it's simply too much and makes it too inefficient The real cancer rotting the EU from within though is the European Commission which should be disbanded and replaced with a democratic body FYI the European Commission consists of 32,000 paid civil servants and all it does it create laws that nobody agrees with Europeans, you should keep posting about the terrors of the European Commission and vote parties into power in your country that can put real pressure on the EU to change and reform