Palantir CEO Karp slams AI token pricing, backs Nvidia deal

Palantir CEO Alex Karp delivered a wide-ranging and animated interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, sharply criticizing the business models of leading artificial intelligence companies while positioning his firm's partnership with Nvidia as the solution for enterprise and government customers.

Karp argued that companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are failing their customers by relying on a token-based pricing model, where businesses pay for the volume of text processed by AI models without seeing proportional business value. He said this dynamic leaves enterprises frustrated and concerned about their intellectual property.

"Something has gone completely wrong," Karp said. "The basic view among enterprises in this country is, 'I'm going to chillax and waste my time with tokens. I'm going to get no value, and they're going to get my IP.'" He insisted his comments reflected private frustrations voiced by other corporate leaders who are reluctant to speak publicly.

The CEO framed the issue as a matter of national security and operational control, particularly for military and critical infrastructure clients. "Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of...