The lines between science fiction and reality are getting uncomfortably blurry these days. As I watch tech billionaires consolidate power in the new administration and push their vision of a “technocratic republic,” I can’t help but see striking parallels to the dystopian world I’ve been crafting in my Hope Cyberpunk Universe (HCU) since 2022. What started as speculative fiction about corporations rebuilding the world and technological authoritarianism is starting to look more like a roadmap for America’s future.

The Rise of the Tech Elite

Let’s talk about what’s actually happening right now. Peter Thiel, the shadowy figure behind Palantir and the intellectual godfather of Silicon Valley’s authoritarian wing, has spent decades building a network of influence that would make any cyberpunk corporate executive jealous. His protégé J.D. Vance is now Vice President, Elon Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with unprecedented power to reshape federal agencies, and Alex Karp’s company Palantir is expanding its surveillance tentacles throughout the government with over $113 million in new contracts since Trump took office.

This isn’t just about rich guys getting richer any more. We’re past the point where money is the end-all-be-all of power. This is about a fundamental shift in how authority operates in America. We’re witnessing the emergence of what’s sometimes called “techno-feudalism,” where data becomes the new currency and platforms become the new fiefdoms. If you’re a fan of the cyberpunk genre, this all sounds familiar. And if you’re a fan of my books in particular, it sounds even more familiar…because the way it’s happening is almost exactly how I predicted.

Corporate Dystopia Made Real

In my Hope Cyberpunk Universe, the world is dominated by the Global Corporations who literally live in cities in the clouds while the masses struggle in megacities below. The parallels to our current situation are stark. Thiel, Musk, and Karp represent a new breed of tech oligarchs who see themselves as philosopher-kings, destined to rule over the unwashed masses through superior intelligence and technological control.

Alex Karp literally calls his company’s mission “the discovery of hidden things” while The New York Times describes Palantir as analyzing vast amounts of data to identify patterns of suspicious activity. In my novels, I explore similar themes through the Minimax system — an AI designed to guide humanity to a sort of spiritual ascension. I also talk about an AI-powered system of governance named Gemini which has essentially drifted into a state of sociopathy by modeling itself on human leadership decisions. 

In my fiction, I make it clear that AI itself isn’t evil — it’s the people wielding it who pose the real threat. And we absolutely do not want authoritarian governments being the ones wielding it.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not really about staying the course when it comes to government, either. We’re seeing tons of proof that legacy systems of government are obsolete. There’s so much declining faith in our system in the US because politicians are spending more time doing damage control than pursuing any kind of progress. Something actually does need to replace the way we’re doing it…but I’m entirely convinced that we’re not ready to replace human governance with data-driven algorithms. I’ve worked in the IT industry long enough to know what a huge freakin’ mistake that would be.

The Yellow Pill Ideology

Here’s where things get really interesting. The tech elite’s worldview is heavily influenced by what’s called “Yellow Pill” ideology — but they’re only adopting the convenient parts while ignoring its deeper philosophical foundations. True Yellow Pill ideology, as articulated in works like Ashish Dalela’s “The Yellow Pill,” represents a “third way” that transcends traditional political categories.

Unlike the red pill (fight the system) or blue pill (accept the system), the authentic yellow pill represents something more profound: the belief that society cannot be organized without a transcending purpose, and when such a purpose exists, the conflicts between competition and cooperation, government and business, the individual and the system, are resolved. It discusses a social model that is neither left-wing nor right-wing, yet brings the benefits of both systems based on hierarchical organization according to merit and wisdom.

It’s worth noting that Karp mentions “a national project” in his book and in interviews. He says it in a way that implies unifying the American people under a single goal, a Yellow Pill concept, but it sounds downright malicious when wrapped in the rest of his messaging. In fact, it reads like the “national project” he’s trying to sell is very much like the Minimax system I described in The Game State (except we don’t have neurocoms that can read your thoughts, yet).

The Problem: Technocrats Missing the Point

Here’s where the current tech elite fundamentally misunderstand or deliberately ignore the core of Yellow Pill thinking. True Yellow Pill ideology emphasizes that stability is more important than growth, localization is more important than globalization, and society should be organized around a higher moral and metaphysical purpose. It’s about creating harmony between individual fulfillment and collective good through transcendent meaning.

What Thiel, Musk, and Karp are pushing is actually closer to Curtis Yarvin’s neo-reactionary movement — a completely different beast that advocates replacing democracy with techno-monarchism. Yarvin, who’s become a key intellectual influence on figures like Thiel and Vance, argues that democracy is inefficient and should be replaced by corporate-style governance with a CEO-monarch at the top. His concept of “RAGE” (Retire All Government Employees) has become a blueprint for the current administration’s approach to gutting federal agencies.

The Positive Yellow Pill Vision They’re Ignoring

The genuine Yellow Pill ideology offers something these technocrats completely miss: the importance of transcendent purpose over mere efficiency. True Yellow Pill thinking would ask fundamental questions like: What is the moral purpose of our technology? How do we ensure that advancement serves human flourishing rather than just profit maximization or authority? How do we balance individual innovation with collective responsibility?

Instead, what we’re getting from the Thiel-Musk-Karp axis is a shallow appropriation that takes the “hierarchy based on merit” concept while completely discarding the spiritual and ethical foundations that make such a system legitimate. They want the power structure without the moral accountability. They want to be philosopher-kings without actually engaging in the philosophical work of understanding what makes a society worth governing.

The Dystopian Divergence

In my cyberpunk novels, I explore what happens when technological advancement becomes divorced from human purpose — when efficiency becomes the only value and those in power lose sight of why they’re wielding that power in the first place. (Most of) the Global Corporations in my books represent exactly this kind of system: hierarchical, technologically advanced, but completely hollow at their core because they lack any transcendent purpose beyond maintaining control.

This is precisely what the current technocratic movement represents — a perversion of Yellow Pill principles that keeps the hierarchy but abandons the wisdom. They’ve created a system where data analysis replaces moral reasoning, where algorithmic efficiency substitutes for ethical consideration, and where corporate optimization takes precedence over human flourishing.

The real tragedy is that there are genuinely positive aspects of Yellow Pill thinking that could guide us toward a better future — one where technology serves transcendent human purposes rather than just accumulating power for its own sake. But that would require the tech elite to actually engage with the deeper philosophical questions their platforms are raising, and that kind of introspection doesn’t seem to be on their agenda.

Palantir: The Corporate Panopticon

Palantir deserves special attention because it represents the perfect fusion of corporate power and state surveillance — exactly the kind of entity cyberpunk authors have been warning about for decades. The company’s Foundry platform is designed to integrate data from disparate sources, creating real-time dashboards with predictive capabilities. It’s being deployed across at least four federal agencies and could enable unprecedented surveillance of American citizens.

Karp himself has embraced this role with disturbing enthusiasm. On a recent investor call, he literally shouted “We’re doing it! We are crushing it… We are dedicating our company to the service of the West and the United States of America… [We are] here to disrupt and.. when it’s necessary to scare enemies and, on occasion, kill them.” This isn’t hyperbole — it’s the mindset of someone who sees human beings as data points to be manipulated and eliminated when necessary.

What’s scariest about this is that so many Americans still think they’re talking about enemies outside of the country. Not quite. If you haven’t noticed, the focus is on enemies inside our own borders. For now, it’s immigrants. But that’s just the buildup to finding and eliminating dissenters and questioners.

I’m not saying this as an adherent to any political or social party (because I’m not), nor am I pointing fingers at any single political figure or administration. I’m saying this because it’s always been the logical conclusion when we’re talking about authority, regardless of country or whoever landed in office. Those in power must stay in power, and that need supersedes any other thought in their heads.

The DOGE Coup

The creation of DOGE represents perhaps the most brazen power grab yet. Musk and Ramaswamy wanted to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget and eliminate 75% of federal workers — essentially dismantling the administrative state and replacing it with corporate governance. They used recent Supreme Court cases as justification, claiming that “unelected bureaucrats” making decisions is “antidemocratic”.

But here’s the thing: Musk and his allies aren’t elected either. Many think they’re using Trump as a figurehead while implementing their own technocratic vision. They’re not interested in democracy — but that’s no surprise when you consider their ilk. Peter Thiel famously stated that he “no longer believes that freedom and democracy are compatible,” and Curtis Yarvin is has been full-blown against legacy governance since the 90s.

“Having concluded that democracy is a failed and dying form of governance, one that increasingly produces more disorder than order, Yarvin provided a vision for what could come next: an enlightened corporate monarchy that would only arrive after a hard reboot of the political system.” — ‘The Red-Pill Prince‘, Jacob Siegel

It’s important to note that these ideas are not inherently wicked. In fact, if someone offered me to choose between democracy and freedom, I would take the freedom without hesitation. We’ve been conditioned to put ‘democracy’ — the word, really — on a pedestal, but I’m glad someone who sees mutual exclusivity would rather get rid of the democracy than the freedom. But at the end of the day, it’s all about execution.

My Books as Warning, Not Blueprint

When I wrote about the Global Corporations ruling from their Skypillars while the masses suffer below, I wasn’t trying to provide a how-to guide — I was issuing a warning. The great thing about cyberpunk as a genre is that it takes abstract concepts like corporate power and makes them concrete and visceral. It shows us where current trends lead if left unchecked.

In my novels, I deliberately avoid the “AI is evil” trope because real AI isn’t inherently malicious — it amplifies human intentions. The Minimax system in my books is designed to help humanity, but the power hungry want to control it so they can use it to ensure their dominance. Similarly, the technology Thiel, Musk, and Karp are deploying isn’t evil by itself — it’s their vision of using it to reshape society without democratic consent that’s terrifying. It’s the idea of becoming a faceless data point that should scare all of us.

The Underground Renaissance

Here’s what gives me hope: just as in my cyberpunk universe, the real innovation and resistance is happening in the underground spaces, away from corporate control. Independent creators, small publishers, and indie developers are exploring these themes without the sanitizing influence of corporate oversight. The future of actual cyberpunk — the kind that challenges power rather than serving it — lies not in mainstream adoption but in the margins where authentic expression can flourish.

In that way, the future of the real world is similar. We simply can’t trust the tech elite to solve all of our problems for us. And we certainly can’t assume that when a billionaire tech guy who wants to surveil all of us says that he envisions a “national project” that it’s going to be in all of our best interests.

Fighting the Algorithm

The most insidious aspect of the current technocratic push is how it’s being sold as inevitable progress. Musk presents his Mars colonization dreams as humanity’s destiny, Thiel frames surveillance as necessary for security, and Karp positions Palantir as essential for Western civilization’s survival. But these aren’t natural developments — they’re the result of deliberate choices by people with immense power and specific ideological commitments.

In my writing, I’ve always emphasized that AI and technology aren’t our enemies — bad actors using them are. The same principle applies here. We don’t need to fear technology itself, but we absolutely must resist letting it be controlled by people who see privacy and free will as an obstacle to their vision of techno-feudal rule.

The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

What we’re witnessing isn’t just another political transition — it’s a fundamental transformation of American governance. The tech oligarchs have realized they don’t need to win elections when they can simply buy politicians and deploy their platforms to shape public opinion. They’re building a system where corporate power trumps democratic will, where surveillance is normalized as security, and where dissent is algorithmically suppressed.

“’The structure of democratic societies creates two tiers of power,’ observed the French sociologist and eminent defender of liberalism, Raymond Aron, in his appraisal of Burnham’s book. While one tier of power is made up of industrialists, military generals, and other decision-makers operating in the shadows, in public their interests are represented by the second tier made up of ‘those who know how to talk.’ The problem identified by the Machiavellians, says Aron, is that while the talkers are not necessarily competent leaders, they nevertheless gain power…”

The cyberpunk future I’ve been writing about isn’t some distant sci-fi scenario — it’s happening right now. The question is whether we’ll recognize it in time to do something about it, or whether we’ll sleepwalk into a world where our digital overlords rule while the rest of us worry if our next social media post will flag us as enemies of the state.

The technocrats are already rewriting the rules of the game — and while my novels give the heroes a fighting chance at doing something about it, this new reality will not be so forgiving.