A 4-month clip showing Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp at the 2025 Hill and Valley Forum has become trending in recent days on X due to the Jewish CEO's successful countering of a pro-Palestinian heckler.
Video: The video at the Hill and Valley Forum / Screenshot: X/@DrEliDavid
Karp, who was being interviewed at the forum's Rebuilding America session on April 30, was interrupted by a protester, leading to a direct and intense exchange over the company's technology, fending off the baseless accusations of what it allegedly does to the Palestinians because it helps companies streamline their operations with AI.
The disruption began with the heckler directly accusing Karp and his company of getting "wealthy off of killing Palestinians." The women went on to say the company's "AI and technology killing my family in Palestine," even though the company does not have an AI model but just analyzes data given by its clients. "What kind of person are you? How do you sleep at night?," she said.
Karp attempted to respond to the accusations, initiating an explanation: "I think the primary cause of death to Palestinians..." However, his statement was cut short by the heckler, who continued to interject. "Your AI and your technology from Palantir kills Palestinians," she yelled. At this point, he shot back, "Mostly terrorists. That's true."
Karp attempted to engage the protester, asking, "do you want to hear my answer?" and "do you want to hear the answer or do you want to yell for no reason?". However, the protester continued to vocalize her accusations. During the ongoing interruption, Karp challenged her, stating, "if your argument was so strong wouldn't you let me talk" and later remarking, "I think you came to the wrong event". Security was eventually called, and Karp won applause from the crowd.
Karp elaborated on his perspective, stating, "the primary cause of death to Palestinians" is "the fact that Hamas has realized that there are millions and millions of useful idiots that will–" but she kept interjecting. He described the protester as an "unwitting product of an evil force Hamas".
He further defended the use of advanced technology, arguing that "the obvious solution to war is to have the West having the strongest most precise deadly weapons possible so that we can minimize unnecessary innocent deaths". He posited that strong deterrence, where "you're so strong no one attacks you," is the primary way to minimize these deaths.
The incident occurred as Karp was discussing the central thesis of his book, "The Technological Republic," which posits that Western society's meritocracy, rule of law, and competence has helped it thrive.
Following Karp's statements, Jacob Hellberg, co-founder of the Hill and Valley Forum, intervened to support Karp, calling in security.
He emphasized that without standing up for discursive discussion, those who seek to shut down opposing views will "win". The session then transitioned to discussing Palantir's organizational lessons.
