Alex Karp, CEO of defense contractor Palantir, has been on the offensive recently. The billionaire, who has a habit of making off-the-cuff comments, has tried to downplay the ongoing criticism and skepticism about his company, which is not only playing a key role in the current presidential administration but has also had a very good year for the stock.
The most recent example of this occurred on Thursday, when Karp appeared at the Yahoo Finance Invest Conference. There, he took on critics who claimed his company, which has been helping the Trump administration with questionable missions at home and abroad, was valued too high. “To me, Palantir is one of the only companies where the average American bought and the average sophisticated American sold,” Karp said.
He seemed to portray critics of his industry as leeches. “Should an enterprise be a parasite? Should the host pay to make your company bigger while getting no real value?” he asked.
Karp also defended criticism that his company is making money by helping the White House with its less interesting activities — like helping Trump’s deportation machine or turbocharging domestic surveillance. “Not only was patriotism right, but patriotism will make you rich,” Karp said.
The rest of the interview was a confusing explosion of half-baked thoughts that felt a little like ChatGPT was loaded with MAGA talking points and forced to get them all out at once. Topics included Karp’s belief in national boundaries and his position that discrimination against white men is wrong, among others.
Why have carp been making so many appearances in the media recently? It’s unclear, but maybe it’s just about displaying power and letting his critics know that he doesn’t scare easily. Palantir has been around for a long time, but it has never been more powerful and, as a result, it has never been more prominent. Under the harsh spotlight of national attention, the company has come under new levels of scrutiny from both the press and industry critics.
To tackle all this, Karp appears to be taking a page out of his friend Elon Musk’s notebook and creating some viral infotainment for the masses. Viral clips are today’s version of bread and circuses, and if you can entertain public opinion, chances are everything will work out fine in the end.
For example, during a recent appearance on Sourcery, a tech podcast hosted by Molly O’Shea, Karp resorted to some childish antics to draw attention to his brand. Karp somehow grabbed a sword and began swinging it demonstratively in front of his young female interviewer. It’s not really a chain, but, as far as sad attempts at virility on the part of over-the-hill billionaires go, I guess it’ll do.
Just another day at the greatest software company on Earth
[📸 11.04.2025] pic.twitter.com/wcAoPf9t9Z
– Eliano A. Younes (@elianoayounes) 4 November 2025
So far, Karp seems to be living up to his boast – and his company remains unbeaten despite the ongoing intrusions. During the Sourcery appearance, Karp said he is “currently in a battle with short-sellers.” Michael Burry, hedge fund manager and wealthy short-seller The Big Short Fame recently revealed that he was betting against Karp’s company as well as the entire AI industry. The Financial Times says that Barry’s bet against Palantir and short bet against Nvidia were “particularly damaging to the companies” because Barry is “popular among online retail investors who have helped make Palantir one of the world’s best-performing stocks.”
At least when it comes to the acquittal, it looks like Palantir has won a temporary victory. On Thursday, Barrie began winding down his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management. “My estimate of the value in the securities is not in line with the market now and has been for some time,” Bury said in a letter to investors.
Karp has come out swinging against the likes of Barry, showing that betting against him and his company was unwise. “When I hear short sellers clearly attacking America – and therefore the most important software company in the world – in terms of our impact just to make money, and trying to question the AI revolution…[it]“It’s very inspiring to me,” Karp said.