Palantir CEO Slams OpenAI, Anthropic Over AI Token Economy
The company also released a nine-point manifesto on the importance of “AI sovereignty,” criticizing tokenmaxxing as a business model while encouraging companies to maintain ownership of their data.
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Days after Palantir and Nvidia announced extending their partnership to have the software firm use the chipmaker’s AI tools to build custom models for U.S. government agencies, Palantir CEO Alex Karp slammed the token-based business models of OpenAI and Anthropic, calling these parts of the AI industry “effing insane.”
Tokens are the foundational units of data AI models, used to read, interpret, and generate content. As AI demand and costs rise, companies are moving to open-weight models that can perform similar tasks at lower cost. This reflects a broader shift: enterprises are moving away from “tokenmaxxing” — treating high token consumption as a stand-in for employee productivity — and toward a mindset centered on return on investment.
“I’m not throwing shade at them, but something has gone completely wrong,” he told CNBC. “The basic view among enterprises in this country is I’m going to chillax and waste my time with tokens.”
Karp’s remarks come amid a growing rift between the two companies. While Anthropic has championed a safety-first approach to AI deployment, Palantir has deepened its role as a major software provider to the US Department of Defense.
Simultaneously, Palantir released a nine-point manifesto on the importance of “AI sovereignty” on social media platform X, criticizing tokenmaxxing as a business model while encouraging companies to maintain ownership of their data.
“Your AI sovereignty dictates your institution’s future. Sovereignty is the precondition for choice. Relinquishing sovereignty transfers the future choices of your institution to others, who are likely to exploit it for their gain and your loss,” the manifesto states. It also urges organizations to remember that “data retention is your treasure.”
Karp also warned the industry against underestimating the speed of China’s progress in building AI models. Chinese players have recently made headlines for AI advancements, including the LineShine supercomputer, which topped the global supercomputer rankings.
