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Either they are

a) buffoons who have surface level comprehesion of LoTR,

b) impulsively decided on a famous fantasy name for their tech (surprisingly common), or

c) playing up the "morally ambiguous" trope. Palantir serves evil as a service to whoever is willing to pay (USFG).

My money is on c.

Probably all three, at a minimum (c): there's a rumour going around (that I can't source) the people working there are very happy every time the press calls them "bond villains" because it correlates with the stock price going up.

Thiel's associate Musk has been accused of (a) with regard to Iain M Banks' Culture series.

my gues would be a+b+c

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