Palantir CEO says China’s DeepSeek shows need for ‘all-country effort’

Palantir CEO Alex Karp said the rise of competing artificial intelligence models such as China’s DeepSeek is a sign that the U.S. needs to work quicker to develop advanced AI.

“Technology is not inherently good,” and could pose threats in the hands of adversaries, Karp told CNBC’s Sara Eisen in an interview airing Friday. “We have to acknowledge that, but that also just means we have to run harder, run faster, have an all-country effort.”

Karp, whose company develops software and systems used by defense agencies, called the U.S. the “single best tech scene in the world,” but said competing tools such as DeepSeek have “woken up” the tech world to the threats of second movers. He said he is “pretty optimistic” that national security will focus on ways to protect American innovation from manipulation and theft.

DeepSeek rocked technology markets this week when its open-source model beat out OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the top free app on Apple’s U.S. App store. Stocks sold off Monday, with Nvidia registering the most significant one-day market value loss in history. Claims and estimates that the model cost less than competitors to make spurred questions about the hefty capital expenditures megacap tech has funneled into AI.

Karp said he does not “really believe” the cost estimates surrounding DeepSeek’s creation.

Palantir has been one of the stories of Wall Street of late, with shares up more than 425% over the past year and outperforming all other members of the S&P 500 in 2024. The stock is up 12% since the start of January and gained more than 4% to a record on Friday. The company is now valued at close to $200 billion.

Palantir’s growth in recent years has stemmed from ballooning demand for AI solutions, where Karp says the company is leading the charge and is poised to transform the way American companies run. Improving the U.S is the company’s “primary objective,” he said.

Karp, a vocal supporter of Israel since the Oct. 7 attack, also backed up his stance and commented on controversy surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Historians and politicians viewed Musk’s hand gestures at an inauguration event for President Donald Trump as a Nazi salute.

Karp said any idea that Musk is a Nazi is “completely absurd and a complete rewrite of history.” Musk has also echoed support for Israel and visited the country shortly after the attack.

While Karp stayed out of politics in the recent presidential election, he offered support for the national security stance on illegal immigration. He said people should not “have a right” to be in the U.S. if they entered illegally, especially if they have engaged in crimes.

“The average American or European as an example are really decent, compassionate, wonderful people, and there is no reason for them to tolerate someone engaged in severe criminal activity in their society,” he said.

Palantir reports earnings after the bell Monday.

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