Palantir CEO Alex Karp Links Trump's Rise to Silicon Valley's Excesses

Trump's Rise Linked To Silicon Valley's 'Excesses,' Says Palantir CEO Alex Karp: 'I Don't Believe You Would Have A Trump Phenomenon Without...' - Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR)

Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR CEO Alex Karp linked the rise of former President Donald Trump to the actions of Silicon Valley. What Happened: Karp, in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, suggested that the rise of Trump was a direct result of the "excesses" of Silicon Valley. He specifically pointed to the detachment of tech moguls from the average American and their support for policies that exempt them from bearing the costs. He said, "I don't believe you would have a Trump phenomenon without the excesses of Silicon Valley." Karp, who initially supported President Joe Biden before switching to Vice President Kamala Harris, also criticized the tech industry's lack of accountability and the divisive content on their platforms. See Also: Bitcoin Could Soar 200% This Cycle If This Happens Palantir, a company founded by Karp and Peter Thiel in 2003, provides data-mining and analytics software to government and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the CIA. The company also supplies artificial intelligence models to military forces, including those of Israel and Ukraine. Why It Matters: The timing of Karp's comments is significant as Palantir has been in the spotlight recently. The company's stock surged after reporting strong second-quarter earnings and announcing a new partnership with Microsoft Corp. This collaboration aims to enhance data analytics and AI services for the U.S. Defense and Intelligence Community. Additionally, the broader context of Silicon Valley's political influence is underscored by Mark Cuban's recent remarks. Cuban criticized the tech industry's desire to position Trump as a CEO-like figure for the country. The political landscape is further complicated by venture capitalist David Sacks, who hosted a high-profile fundraiser for Trump. Sacks, who has supported various political figures, believes the recent legal challenges against Trump will only bolster his support. Read Next: What's Going On With Rocket Lab Stock Today? Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Photo by WEF on Flickr This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Palantir CEO Alex Karp says Trump's rise is tied to the 'excesses of Silicon Valley'

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. "I don't even know how you explain to the average American that you've become a multibillionaire and you won't supply your product to the DOD," Karp told The Times. "It's jarringly corrosive. That's before you get to all the corrosive, divisive things that are on these platforms," he continued. Karp cofounded Palantir in 2003 with his Stanford Law School classmate Peter Thiel. The secretive company makes its money by supplying data-mining and analytics software to government and law enforcement agencies like the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the CIA. It also provides artificial intelligence models to militaries, including those of Israel and Ukraine. A representative for Karp at Palantir declined to comment when approached by Business Insider. Karp's comments about the ties between Trump and Silicon Valley echo points recently raised by his fellow billionaire Mark Cuban. "Watching what's happening in Silicon Valley is insane. It's not so much a support thing. It's more like a takeover thing, trying to put themselves in a position to have as much control as possible," Cuban said of the tech titans backing Trump in an interview with the "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart last week. Silicon Valley's elite, Cuban said, wants to act as a pseudo board of directors to Trump, who they are envisioning as "CEO of the United States of America." Representatives for the Trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours. Karp told The Times that he initially backed President Joe Biden before switching over to support Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out of the race. In July, Karp told the Financial Times he was backing the Democrats even though he didn't agree with the party's progressive wing. "I personally am not thrilled by the direction, but how far can they go before I reconsider? I am voting against Trump," Karp said. This isn't the first time Karp has spoken out against Silicon Valley. When Palantir filed to go public in August 2020, Karp said in a letter to investors that society needed to ask itself if it wants to "outsource the adjudication of some of the most consequential moral and philosophical questions of our time" to Silicon Valley engineers. "The engineering elite of Silicon Valley may know more than most about building software. But they do not know more about how society should be organized or what justice requires," he added. Palantir would go on to move its headquarters from Palo Alto to Denver that same month. In his letter to investors, Karp described a growing disillusionment with Silicon Valley. "Our company was founded in Silicon Valley. But we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector's values and commitments," Karp wrote in his letter. Tech titans in Silicon Valley have been split on who to back in this presidential election. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings are among those loudly backing Harris. Others, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, are going all in on Trump. "My smartest friends, including those living in the San Francisco Bay Area who have been lifelong Dems, are excited about Trump/Vance," Musk wrote in an X post on July 21 about Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. "I believe in an America that maximizes individual freedom and merit. That used to be the Democratic Party, but now the pendulum has swung to the Republican Party," Musk wrote in a follow-up post on the same day.