The Oligarchs Pushing for Conquest in Greenland (The New Republic)

[highplainsdem]

https://newrepublic.com/article/205102/oligarchs-pushing-conquest-greenland-trump

Røbber Bårons
The Oligarchs Pushing for Conquest in Greenland
Trump’s fixation on filching the island territory from Denmark may seem like the demented ravings of a mad king. But to a cohort of plutocrat weirdos, it makes perfect sense.

Casey Michel
January 13, 2026

-snip-

There’s Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist who has long backed Trump, and who has long called for oligarchic fellow travelers to “escape” democratic oversight. Others, such as Marc Andreessen (of the aforementioned Andreessen Horowitz), have likewise backed funds that support Praxis, with fellow investors like Jon Lonsdale also supporting the group. Even the Winklevoss twins, best known for their early roles at Facebook, have steered investment to Praxis.

Perhaps the most conspicuous oligarch linked to Praxis is none other than Sam Altman. While Altman has never commented publicly about Praxis, his Apollo Ventures firm has funded Praxis directly. “Altman has strange politics,” Gil Duran, who has tracked the network-state movement perhaps more than anyone else, wrote in 2024. “His investment in Praxis makes it clear that, despite platitudes about creating a better future, he’s betting on some kind of dramatic collapse.”

Last year, during Trump’s early rounds of demands that the U.S. be given control of Greenland, Reuters reported that a range of “Silicon Valley tech investors” had begun “promoting the frozen island as a site for a so-called freedom city, a libertarian utopia with minimal corporate regulation.” Aligning with Praxis’s vision for a network state in Greenland, Reuters reported that these oligarchic investors envisioned transforming Greenland into a supposed start-up paradise for Silicon Valley obsessions, building the island into a “hub for artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, space launches, micro nuclear reactors, and high-speed rail.” Some of the names mentioned were those already connected with Praxis. Both Thiel and Andreessen were reportedly propelling the idea, as was Lonsdale, who called outright for “expanding our country to Greenland.” (Thiel has denied interest or involvement, while Andreessen declined to comment.) But there was one additional name mentioned: Ken Howery, himself a former venture capitalist who had previously co-founded PayPal, alongside Thiel and Musk.

Yet Howery wasn’t simply another hyper-capitalist floating out of Silicon Valley; he was appointed by Trump himself as America’s newest ambassador to Denmark—and was specifically “expected to … lead Greenland-acquisition negotiations,” those familiar with his appointment said.

-snip-

More at that link - no paywall.

What Gil Duran said here about Sam Altman

"His investment in Praxis makes it clear that, despite platitudes about creating a better future, he’s betting on some kind of dramatic collapse."

really caught my eye, and reminded me of some of the things Altman had said when interviewed for a New Yorker profile 10 years ago, a profile I'd posted about here a few years ago: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217685127 . You'll find direct links to that profile in that February 2023 OP.

And though Altman has talked most about needing doomsday prep in case AI attacked humans, he also talked about being willing to kill as many as 100,000 people, fellow humans, if necessary to defend his loved ones.

From the New Yorker profile:

Synthetic viruses? Altman is planning a synthetic-biology unit within YC Research that could thwart them. Aging and death? He hopes to fund a parabiosis company, to place the rejuvenative elixir of youthful blood into an injection. “If it works,” he says, “you will still die, but you could get to a hundred and twenty being pretty healthy, then fail quickly.” Human obsolescence? He is thinking about establishing a group to prepare for our eventual successor, whether it be an A.I. or an enhanced version of Homo sapiens. The idea would be to assemble thinkers in robotics, cybernetics, quantum computing, A.I., synthetic biology, genomics, and space travel, as well as philosophers, to discuss the technology and the ethics of human replacement. For now, leaders in those fields are meeting semi-regularly at Altman’s house; the group jokingly calls itself the Covenant.

As Altman gazes ahead, emotion occasionally clouds his otherwise spotless windscreen. He told me, “If you believe that all human lives are equally valuable, and you also believe that 99.5 per cent of lives will take place in the future, we should spend all our time thinking about the future.” His voice dropped. “But I do care much more about my family and friends.” He asked me how many strangers I would allow to die—or would kill with my own hands, which seemed to him more intellectually honest—in order to spare my loved ones. As I considered this, he said that he’d sacrifice a hundred thousand. I told him that my own tally would be even larger. “It’s a bug,” he declared, unconsoled.

100,000 is a sizable army. Altman had already, by ten years ago, given this enough thought to put a number on how many people he'd be willing to kill. And whatever scenario had him thinking about this wasn't either an attack by AI, or a super virus, the two scenarios he'd earlier said he was most worried about.

It could, however, fit with a scenario of a network state controlled by tech bros - and doing exactly the sort of research he'd talked about in the first paragraph in that excerpt above - fighting against other governments. That might lead to some thought of how many human outsiders he'd be willing to kill.

Because those network states the tech bros want - no matter how idealistic and interested in research they might claim to be - will also be heavily armed and fortified with the best military tech they can buy, steal or develop.

And it would be very foolish for any country to allow the tech bros to set up their little network states.