Palantir CEO Alex Karp supports strict border controls to protect Americans from the fentanyl crisis. (Courtesy of Palantir: Q3 2025 Earnings Webcast)
Palantir CEO Alex Karp made the claim Wednesday. that american Confidence in key institutions is eroding as powerful executives routinely avoid the consequences of their failures, saying, “In this culture, only the poor pay the price for what goes wrong.”
Mr. Karp made the accusation at the New York Times’ annual Dealbook Summit during a discussion about whether the federal government should take stakes in strategically important companies. major companies Ordinary Americans have nothing left but run to the White House for help after making a “stupid decision.”
“No one believes that the institution can be trusted…and I have a hard time believing that they can be trusted, too, because these business leaders make completely stupid decisions and they get bailed out,” Karp said. “A year later, they’re getting huge bonuses. So what do the American people get? Nothing. That’s a big question.”
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Alex Karp speaks on stage at the New York Times Dealbook Summit 2025 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 3, 2025 in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images for The New York Times/Getty Images)
Carp too defended Palantir They argue that many of its decisions, once dismissed as “stupid,” are now being copied across the tech industry.
“Every decision Palantir made…every single one of them was considered foolish,” he said. “…all the people who made the right decisions went bankrupt, went out of business, or now have to imitate us.”
Karp went on to argue that companies that seek government assistance after making “stupid decisions” should face the full consequences of their actions.
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New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Palantir co-founder and CEO Alex Karp speak on stage at the 2025 New York Times Dealbook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 3, 2025. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“If you want to make a stupid decision and go to the White House and ask for money, you should take all the risks yourself,” Karp said. “…Somehow your salary should be limited to the extent that you can make a lot of money for the American people.”
Mr. Karp added, “We Palantir absorption There is a good risk that we will fail, and so should others. ”
The CEO also argued that “in this culture, the only people who pay the price for what goes wrong are the poor.”
“The rest of us somehow outsource what we do wrong or are stupid to society at large,” Karp said. “But if you’re poor and you’re a soldier, or you’re poor in the ghetto, when you’re wrong, you go to prison or you die.”
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A woman walks under the Palantir sign before the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 22, 2022. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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At the summit, Karp also defended Palantir’s efforts. trump administration the Israeli government denied that the company was building surveillance tools for the U.S. government. The New York Times reported.
Earlier this month, during an earnings call, Karp claimed that the tech giants were “the first companies to go completely anti-woke” and expressed support for the Trump administration’s military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels.
Palantir did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
FOX Business’ Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.
