Public transcript

Squawk Pod: Palantir CEO Alex Karp: CEOs are Livid - 07/01/26 | Audio Only

By: CNBC Television
Length: 45 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 13 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

This July 1, 2026 episode of CNBC's Squawk Pod covers the first-half market rally led by the Russell 2000, Anthropic's restored model access and new drug discovery program, Nike's earnings miss on stock, and President Trump's financial disclosure showing over $2 billion in 2025 income. The centerpiece is a wide-ranging interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp on the company's expanded Nvidia partnership, his criticism of frontier AI labs, and views on China, Israel and Iran. It closes with the daughters of Congressman Josh Gottheimer and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin discussing their children's book on bipartisanship, with proceeds supporting homeless families through Project Night Night. The recording runs about 45 minutes and is in English.

Key points

At the halfway mark of 2026, the Russell 2000 is up nearly 22%, the Nasdaq up 12.8%, the S&P 500 up 9.5%, and the Dow up nearly 9%.
The 'parabolic seven' stocks — AMD, Dell, Broadcom, Intel, Micron, Marvell and SanDisk — are exceeding the Mag 7's multiples for the first time ever.
President Trump's financial disclosure shows at least $2 billion pulled in during 2025, including about $515 million from World Liberty Financial token sales and $635 million in royalties from his memecoin business.
Palantir is expanding its partnership with Nvidia to build custom AI systems for the US government, centered on customers controlling their compute, models, data stack and alpha.
Karp says enterprise CEOs are 'livid' about frontier labs overcharging for tokens, transferring their IP, and overselling AI capabilities.
Karp argues the relevant tech centers of the world are America, China and Israel, and that the US-China AI race is binary: 'They will win or we will win.'
Ellie Gottheimer and Lara Mullin, daughters of Congressman Josh Gottheimer and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, wrote a children's book called 'Shmoo and Aussie Go to Washington' with proceeds supporting homeless families through Project Night Night.

Questions it answers

00:00First-half market recap

How did the markets perform in the first half of 2026?

The Russell 2000 leads, up nearly 22% year-to-date at a record high; the Nasdaq is up 12.8%, the S&P 500 up 9.5%, and the Dow up nearly 9% — its best first half since 2021.

Russell 2000 closed above 3,000 at a record high
Nasdaq 100 up 27.5% in Q2
Dow's best first half since 2021

04:40Anthropic and Nike headlines

What changed with Anthropic's models and what else is the company doing?

The Commerce Department lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5, restoring global access on Anthropic's cloud platform. Anthropic is also starting an internal drug discovery program for neglected diseases.

Fable 5 available globally starting today
Mythos 5 restored for some US organizations
New drug discovery effort just beginning

07:20Nike earnings

How did Nike's earnings look?

Nike reported adjusted EPS of 20 cents beating estimates of 13 cents, revenue of about $11 billion beating estimates, but North American sales of $4.8 billion came in below expectations and China sales dropped 12%. The stock fell to multi-year lows.

Adjusted EPS 20 cents vs 13 cents expected
Revenue ~$11 billion vs $10.9 billion expected
Stock at roughly an 8-year low

10:00Trump financial disclosure

What did Trump's financial disclosure reveal and what did the hosts make of it?

The disclosure shows at least $2 billion pulled in during 2025, including about $515 million from World Liberty Financial token sales, $635 million in memecoin royalties, and over $86 million in legal settlements. The hosts debate whether the system permits the perception of bribery and whether rules need to change.

~$515 million from World Liberty token sales
$635 million in memecoin royalties
Hosts call for rules making politics immune from money

19:10Palantir-Nvidia partnership

What is the Palantir-Nvidia deal and why does it exist?

Palantir is teaming with Nvidia to build custom AI systems for the US government, giving customers control over their compute, models, data stack and alpha. Karp says enterprises distrust frontier labs and want to own the means of production.

Partnership focused on US government custom AI systems
Customers want control over compute, models, data and alpha
Ontology makes LLMs safe and useful in enterprise contexts

21:00Karp on enterprise anger and AI

Why is Karp so fired up about frontier AI labs?

He says enterprise CEOs across the country are 'livid' about paying for tokens that create no value while frontier labs take their IP and alpha. He argues critical infrastructure only runs these models through an application layer like Palantir's ontology, and calls overselling AI a problem for the country.

Enterprises are livid about token costs and IP transfer
Critical infrastructure runs LLMs only via an application layer
Karp invites viewers to call CEOs privately to verify

33:00China, Israel and Iran

What does Karp think about China, Israel and Iran?

He says the relevant tech centers are America, China and Israel, and that the US-China AI race is binary — they will win or we will win. On Israel, he is the most publicly supportive CEO but also a private critic, and says Iran has been degraded.

Two and a half tech centers: America, China, Israel
AI race with China is binary
Iran has been degraded, per Karp

39:00Bipartisan children's book

What book did the two daughters of Congress members write and why?

Ellie Gottheimer and Lara Mullin, daughters of Rep. Josh Gottheimer and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, wrote 'Shmoo and Aussie Go to Washington' to teach kids that people from different parties can work together. Proceeds go to Project Night Night, helping homeless families.

Book inspired by their dads' cross-party friendship
Aimed at kids before they reach social media
Proceeds support Project Night Night

Notes

Markets: First Half of 2026

Russell 2000 is the standout, up nearly 22% year-to-date and closing above 3,000 at a record high.
Nasdaq up 12.8%, S&P 500 up 9.5%, Dow up nearly 9% — its best first half since 2021.
Q2 tech surge: Nasdaq up ~21.5%, Nasdaq 100 up ~27.5%.
The 'parabolic seven' — AMD, Dell, Broadcom, Intel, Micron, Marvell, SanDisk — now exceed the Mag 7's multiples for the first time.

Corporate News

Anthropic says the Commerce Department lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models; Fable 5 available globally on the cloud platform today.
Anthropic is starting an internal drug discovery program targeting 'neglected diseases.'
Nike: adjusted EPS of 20 cents beat estimates of 13 cents; revenue ~$11 billion beat estimates of $10.9 billion; North American sales of $4.8 billion below expectations; China sales dropped 12%; stock at multi-year lows.

Trump Financial Disclosure

President Trump pulled in at least $2 billion in 2025, including ~$515 million from World Liberty Financial token sales, $65 million from equity sales in the holding company, and $635 million in royalties from his memecoin business.
Over $86 million in legal settlements, including $24.5 million from Meta and $16 million each from Paramount and Disney.
Hosts debate ethics: whether a sitting president should trade stocks, and whether the system 'allows for the perception of effectively bribery.'

Alex Karp, Palantir CEO

Palantir is expanding its Nvidia partnership to build custom AI systems for the US government; the theme is customer control over compute, models, data stack and alpha.
Karp says enterprise CEOs are 'livid' — paying for tokens that create no value while frontier labs take their IP and alpha.
He argues critical infrastructure runs LLMs only through an application layer (Palantir's ontology), not raw frontier models.
He sees two and a half relevant tech centers: America, China and Israel; the AI race with China is binary.
On Israel: he is the most publicly supportive CEO, but also a private critic; says Iran has been degraded.

Bipartisan Children's Book

Ellie Gottheimer and Lara Mullin, daughters of Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, wrote 'Shmoo and Aussie Go to Washington.'
Proceeds go to Project Night Night, which gives night boxes — a blanket, stuffed animal and book — to homeless kids under 12.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.