Palantir’s Karp slams AI labs as “unlikeable”

Palantir CEO Alex Karp tells an interview audience that major AI labs and their leaders “don’t understand how unlikeable they are,” adding that their forward-looking mindset and expensive, mismatched products leave customers disappointed. He praises parts of t

Alex Karp doesn’t sound impressed by the AI victory lap.

In an interview with CNBC, the Palantir CEO said Silicon Valley’s AI leaders and their work culture lack something simple: self-awareness. “They don’t understand how unlikeable they are,” Karp said. “I told them this. I probably shouldn’t have.”

Karp’s frustration isn’t aimed only at personalities. He also says the AI labs’ thinking is off by design—too focused on tomorrow to deal with today. The labs. he said. believe that they “don’t have to solve your problem today. ” because it will be solved tomorrow. He called that mindset “largely religious.”.

He ties that belief to how the companies talk to customers, too. Karp criticized the products themselves. saying they “don’t actually work the way” customers expect and that they’re “very expensive.” His tone sharpened as he described a culture he sees as comfortable with distance from the work: “Most of them are chillaxing over their latte. reading a report about something that they don’t understand the technical capacity about.”.

Karp also pointed directly to the forward-deployed model for AI—described in the article as something OpenAI and Google have been embracing, and a model Palantir popularized. In his view, the AI giants have done a “bad job” of it.

One company became his clearest target. Karp called out the OpenAI Deployment Company, describing it as a “complete farce” and an attempt to “replicate Palantir.” When asked for comment, OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Even while delivering the sharpest criticism, Karp tried to keep a boundary around his own feelings. He said that his point about unlikability doesn’t mean he personally feels disliked. He then named two people he clearly respects. Karp said Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have provided “some of the best and most interesting conversations I’ve had in business.”.

For Anthropic’s Dario Amodei specifically. Karp called him “a very. very important person. ” and said “he believes what he’s saying.” The praise didn’t erase the disagreement. Karp said they “still butt heads. ” drawing a line between near-term needs and the long arc of future promises: “I believe that we need heaven on earth. not heaven in 20 years.”.

Asked to sum up that gap in thinking, Karp left little room for compromise: “We disagree on these things.”

Palantir Alex Karp CNBC AI labs OpenAI Anthropic Dario Amodei Sam Altman forward-deployed model AI products Silicon Valley technology industry