What does Peter Thiel want in Argentina?
Milei’s libertarian experiment, sweeping deregulation and appetite for technological disruption may explain why one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures is moving south. Journalists Giselle Lecrercq & Juan Luis González investigate. Leer más
On April 23, Peter Thiel visited Argentina's Government House with libertarian president Javier Milei. This meeting was significant as Thiel had formally decided to make Argentina his new home. The official narrative suggests that Milei's libertarian stance attracted Thiel, but his interest in Argentina had begun earlier. On June 6, 2022, Palantir Technologies, Thiel's company, had already registered with Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property.
Through their Argentine offices, they offered a variety of services from cloud-based software to geospatial data analysis. This was evident as early as September 8, 2017 when Palantir showed interest in the AMIA case's digitalized secret archives. Thiel's company had been in talks with prosecutors handling this sensitive data. However, due to a lawsuit, Thiel's attempt to control such sensitive data was limited.
Milei's government attributes Thiel's move to Argentina's unique political climate. Milei, a fan of libertarian thinker Murray Rothbard, believes that democracy hinders technological innovation and liberty. This unique political environment, Milei argues, is one of the reasons Thiel chose Argentina.
Written by urgent.news from Buenos Aires Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.