AI nationalization – Palantir CEO Alex Karp says he has privately warned top AI executives for months that the momentum may be shifting toward government control, after Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed an American AI “sovereign wealth fund” plan that would take a 50% ownership stake in
By the time the microphones were live at Palantir’s AIPCon 10, Alex Karp’s message had already been tested in private conversations with some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence.
On Thursday, the Palantir CEO said he has spent six months warning top AI executives about nationalization risk—and that the reaction, in his telling, has largely been dismissal. In his view, leaders are acting like the idea is impossible because they’re “likable” and “creating so much value.”
Karp described the moment of disbelief in blunt language: “Why would anyone nationalize us? We’re so likable. We’re creating so much value.”
Then he delivered the warning more sharply: “The momentum is on the side of people who want to nationalize them,” adding, “We don’t get our act together.”
The threat Karp is pointing to isn’t just theoretical. He connected it to what he has been saying publicly for months—arguing that if technology companies behave in ways that anger major institutions, governments can move toward taking control.
In March, Karp told Silicon Valley directly that displacing white-collar workers while alienating the military would lead to the nationalization of their technology.
The renewed push comes as Sen. Bernie Sanders is placing an ownership model for AI back at the center of the debate. Sanders said he would soon introduce legislation that would give the public a 50% ownership stake in the country’s largest AI firms.
On Monday, Sanders published a guest essay in The New York Times outlining his American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act. The plan. as described there. would impose a one-time 50 percent tax on stock—not profits—of major AI companies including OpenAI. Anthropic and xAI. That money would then be paid directly into a federal fund.
Sanders argued that AI is “built on the collective knowledge of humanity” and said its wealth must be shared publicly.
The idea has also drawn attention across political lines. Short-seller Jim Chanos asked on X on Tuesday: “What do you call it when both Donald Trump AND Bernie Sanders advocate government ownership of corporate equity?”
Sanders has not limited his criticism to proposals that increase government power. He also criticized President Donald Trump’s AI executive order, saying it is voluntary and that it “does almost nothing to protect Americans.” In his view, Congress should pass stronger legislation instead.
Karp’s argument intersects with that backdrop: he warned that AI firms could end up facing regulation from policymakers who may not fully understand the technology. That misunderstanding. he said. could escalate into more aggressive government intervention. including nationalization—the concern he says he has raised privately with industry leaders.
He urged AI executives to move beyond reliance on lobbyists and instead openly address AI’s societal risks and strategic value, especially as the U.S. competes with foreign adversaries developing their own AI systems.
The urgency of that conversation isn’t limited to politics. The stakes are described as already measurable in how governments are positioning themselves. The report cited in the discussion from the Center for a New American Security says Nvidia supplies GPUs for 52% of all tracked sovereign AI infrastructure projects worldwide—an indicator. in the way the fact is presented. of how deeply states are moving to control the backbone of AI.
So when Karp says he’s been warning leaders for months, the point isn’t just that nationalization is a possibility. It’s that momentum—toward public ownership, bigger intervention, and harder bargaining—has been moving in a direction he believes industry has been underestimating.
Alex Karp Palantir AIPCon 10 nationalization AI regulation Bernie Sanders American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act OpenAI Anthropic xAI one-time 50 percent tax on stock sovereign AI infrastructure Nvidia GPUs