“Televised Nervous Breakdown”: CEO of Palantir Suffers a Bit of a Meltdown During Live Interview

Everyone has had a bad day at work, but most of us are lucky enough that ours weren’t broadcast with a chyron live on television. On a live interview with CNBC‘s infamously churlish segment “Squawk Box,” Palantir CEO Alex Karp appeared to suffer a nearly 20-minute meltdown, complete with stuttering, nervous backtracking, and a steady supply of digressions so abstruse that the hosts seemed befuddled and perhaps even concerned for his wellbeing. Though Karp was called up to chat about an ongoing deal between Palantir and the chip maker Nvidia to build AI infrastructure for the US government, he quickly went off the rails, using up minutes of airtime to complain about the financial bubble undergirding the AI boom. While there may be a point buried in Karp’s diatribe, it quickly became lost in a wash of unintelligible jargon. “These models have been completely over, irresponsibly over-sale,” Karp ranted at one point, “and the sale is, ‘it’s dangerous for everyone, which is why I can give [AI] to all your adversaries but I can’t give it to the Department of War, or I can’t safely give it to an enterprise in this country, without being certain that the Alpha of that business could transfer to this model tomorrow, ie I have no business, no job.'” “You sound pretty angry,” CNBC‘s Becky Quick interjected after a nearly three minute-long rant from Karp. “No,” the CEO snapped. “This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me!” Even Karp’s more intelligible arguments are quickly trampled over as additional intrusive thoughts took the wheel. At multiple points, Karp got hung up on the idea that elite universities might not welcome him as a professor anytime soon — an aspiration his parents still have for him, apparently. “American enterprises are run by the shrewdest, most widely intelligent people on the planet,” the Palantir CEO started to say, setting up an argument that companies aren’t interested in foundation models, but in AI apps that can actually solve problems. That train of thought quickly leaves the station, though, as he pivots to his higher ed ambitions literally mid-sentence. “If you think they’re going for that [foundation models], you can go try to sell me — like my, my parents still want me to get a job as a faculty member at Berkeley,” he complained. “Go try to get me a job at Berkeley. It’s not happening.” By the time the lengthy “interview” — it’s really more of a lecture, since every time one of the hosts tries to get it back on track, Karp launches into a new stream-of-consciousness tirade — comes to an end, Karp jokes that he feels “like I’m gonna be kicked out of the room.” To Karp’s credit, his interviewers struck an ameliorative tone. “Never, a wide-ranging conversation, really appreciate your time,” one of CNBC‘s professional journalists — the camera was pointed elsewhere — replies. Unfortunately, that prompted Karp to dig in even more, starting off on another winding digression as the CNBC chyron cut to a live shot of Donald Trump’s new Air Force One aircraft. “I get kicked out of these rooms — even if I agree with you I would try to disagree with you, it’s more fun,” the Palantir CEO blathers as the Squawk Box interviewers try to wrap it up. “Alex thank you, we appreciate it very, very much, thanks” CNBC‘s Andrew Sorkin says, clearly cueing Karp to leave so they can move on. “And I’ll tell you — we’re off camera now?” Karp continues. The hosts reply in a chorus: “no, we’re still going.” More on Palantir: Palantir, World’s Weepiest Eye of Sauron, Sues Mayor of London After Losing a Contract