Palantir CEO: ‘I Have F**ked Up So Many Things’

Palantir CEO: ‘I Have F**ked Up So Many Things’

We all make mistakes, but only some of us admit to them onstage at fancy tech conferences.

Image: AP

Today, for example, Alex Karp, the co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies, said that he’s “fucked up so many things at Palantir”. The comments came while Karp was onstage at WSJDLive, a vaguely nightmarish-sounding conference for “top CEOs, founders, pioneers, investors and luminaries”.

Of course, his jokey admission had another purpose: It neatly set the stage for a denial of the claims of race discrimination recently brought forth against Palantir by the Department of Labor.

The lawsuit claimed that the company had a “hiring process and selection procedures that discriminated against Asian applicants for software engineering positions on the basis of their race”. Palantir, of course, denied the claims, and Karp continued that line today. (He also discussed the possibility of an IPO.)

He also had some other weird stuff to say, judging by tweets from journalists in the audience:

The above tweet was in reference to reports that the company has lost several commercial contracts. Karp responded that the company is focused on government contracts — it’s much pickier with commercial clients, apparently.

But his comments raise a vital question: What, exactly, has he “fucked up” at Palantir? The possibilities are endless!

Really, though, Alex: We’d all love to know.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.