Tech CEO jokes about drone-striking rivals in MAGA-tinged Hill summit

An exclusive Capitol Hill forum meant to connect the tech industry with Congress took a bewildering political turn on Wednesday when a key CEO condemned “pagan” anti-Israel protests, suggested the protesters be sent to North Korea and mused about launching drone strikes on his business enemies.

The comments came from Alex Karp of Palantir Technologies, the Peter Thiel-linked firm increasingly at the center of Washington's defense-tech plans.

Karp was a featured speaker at the invite-only event, held in the heart of Capitol Hill. It included appearances from a number of sitting lawmakers and tech executives, most of whom made far blander pronouncements about national security, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

It was organized by Jacob Helberg, a senior Karp adviser and key driver of last week’s passage of a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban in the United States.

Karp’s talk, a one-on-one with Helberg, was billed as an early look at how defense software and AI are impacting the Ukraine and Israel conflicts, but veered in some unexpected directions. He said some students protesting the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attacks have also praised North Korea, and perhaps should be sent there for reeducation.

“We’re gonna do an exchange program sponsored by Karp,” he said. “A couple months in North Korea, nice-tasting flavored bark. See how you feel about that.”

The Palantir CEO is one of an emerging cadre of Silicon Valley hawks bringing the tech industry’s disruptive ethos to a newly MAGA-tinged brand of politics — often couched in freewheeling rhetoric very different from even normal Washington jabs.

As if to underscore the point, Karp’s remarks were followed just minutes later by a surprise recorded video appearance at the forum by former President Donald Trump.

The event was not advertised as a partisan forum. Elected officials who spoke included Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, as well as several Republican lawmakers.

Asked about Karp’s remarks, which at times caused visible discomfort among some attendees, the organizer said that was part of the point.

“The whole goal of the Hill & Valley Forum is to bridge the cultural gap between Washington and Silicon Valley,” said Helberg, who conducted the on-stage interview with Karp on Wednesday. “So it’s great for both sides to familiarize themselves with a little bit of West Coast humor.”

Palantir specializes in data analytics for the defense sector, and has partnered with the Israeli military on the use of AI and other tools.

Karp has been an outspoken supporter of the Israeli response to last year’s Oct. 7 attack — and on Wednesday, he spent much of his 30-minute appearance railing against the anti-Israel protests that have rocked Columbia University and other campuses.

“Look at Columbia,” Karp said. “There is literally no way to explain the investment in our elite schools, and the output is a pagan religion — a pagan religion of mediocrity, and discrimination, and intolerance, and violence.”

The Palantir CEO called the protests “unforgivable” and “incomprehensible,” and claimed that progressive students have bought into “an architecture of anti-discrimination while dressing in masks and excluding the population that’s been most discriminated [against] for the last 3,000 years.”

In an earlier aside, Karp also mused about his traditional animosity toward some venture capitalists.

“I historically have been one that would rage against Silicon Valley venture people,” Karp said. “And I had all sorts of fantasies of using drone-enabled technology to exact revenge — especially targeted — in violation of all norms.”

In an interview with POLITICO after Karp’s comments, Helberg said Karp “has a background and a Ph.D. in philosophy, so he cares about philosophical issues in general.” He said that as a “private citizen,” Karp is “certainly entitled to be able to speak out on these issues.”

But Helberg also said that Karp’s strong language against anti-Israel protests — a somewhat riskier stance to take in Washington, particularly when compared to Palantir’s tough anti-China stance — is “kind of part of the DNA of the company.”

“Palantir is a company that was founded after 9/11 premised on the notion of taking a side,” Helberg said. “It was never a company that hedged its bets, and that tried being neutral on big ethical and moral international events.”

Helberg denied that Karp’s bombastic rhetoric was meant to curry favor with former President Donald Trump or his “Make America Great Again” movement ahead of the November elections. “He believes in working with the U.S. government regardless of who’s in office,” Helberg said.

But Helberg — himself a Trump supporter — couldn’t contain his glee while giving POLITICO an early look at the video Trump sent to the Hill & Valley Forum on Wednesday.

“Jacob, I want to thank you,” the presumptive GOP nominee for president said in the brief video. “Our meeting was very productive, talking about AI and all of the ramifications — both good and bad.”

Asked about that meeting, Helberg said Trump “cares about artificial intelligence. He’s worried about deep fakes ... and artificial intelligence is the topic that everyone’s talking about on both sides of the aisle.”